He Comes In My Dreams
by 50ShadesofBalor
Summary: She had no idea that her internship in Ireland would end up leading her into a world where fiction is reality. Finn Balor based. Rated M for language, some eventual violence and sexual content. (On Hiatus... Will be finished, I just need a break)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm really nervous about putting out this new story... I really really love the idea, of course the demon body paint sparked the idea lol this is just kind of a pilot chapter because I'm still feeling out the supernatural part of my story. I'm usually just drama/romance but I'm stepping outside my comfort zone. So we'll see. Give me feedback :) I own nothing execept Annabelle.

The dream is never the same, but he is. The man in my dream is always consistant. I couldn't tell you what time he comes to me, but it's nearly every night. Clad in his red and black demon looking paint, those peircing blue eyes looking up at vibrant green ones from under long black eyelashes. I'm laying in bed, and I'm trying to sleep when I feel a pair of warm, rough hands on my knees. They easily spread my legs apart, making me feel exposed under his gaze. My deep redish hair was splayed across my pillow.

"This isn't real..." I tell him. I always said that to him.

"Of course it is, my love." He would respond. His touch felt real. "Every night I prove to you that it is." He tells me. His fingers trail up the inside of my thigh until they reach my panties. I let out a soft gasp when he slips them to the side and his fingers slide over my folds. "Real enough?" He asks, dipping his head down to the crook of my neck and peppering the skin with kisses.

"Oh god..." I groan, my hips squirming under this touch. Two of his fingers were circling my clit, teasing me. He slipped one inside of me and my back arches off the bed to meet it. My hand had come up and my nails were digging into his side as his pace increased. A loud moan escaped my lips, but it was cut off when he claimed my mouth with his own, his tongue gliding along my bottom lip. He pulls his hand away from my heat and i let out a soft huff of protest.

"Still think this isn't real?" He murmurs against my ear, making me shiver. His fingers follow the newly formed goosebumps along my arm and down between the valley of my breasts. He slinks down between my legs, "Watch me..." He instructs, his breath hot on my folds. He kisses the inside of my right thigh, then the left. Our eyes are locked as he licks the length of my core up to my already sensitive clit. My head rolls back into the pillow and I moan as my fingers tangle into his hair. He had an arm hooked around my thigh, holding it off to the side to keep me open for him. His tongue continued to attack my clit, now flicking back and forth over it. Each flick made me inch closer and closer to my release. His lips circled my clit and he sucked on it before giving it a gentle nibble. THat was what it took. I basically screamed my release as my body spasmed under him. His fingers made circles on the skin of my thighs as I came down from my high. "You need to wake up and pack. I'm excited to meet you in person soon, my love." He tells me.

"What?" I ask, a little taken aback. My eyes snapped open and he smirked down at me.

"Are you not excited?" He questions, with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm moving in-" I start to reply but he cuts into my sentence.

"One week." He finishes, "See you soon." He murmurs.

***...***...***

I woke up panting and drenched in sweat. The light was pouring through the small cracks of my black out curtains. I reached over and grabbed my phone, checking the time which read just after 11 am. My pussy was literally soaked, I was used to it at this point. I swear I came in my dreams at least twice every night the past few months.

"Are you up in there?" Kelly asks, giving my door a few knocks.

"Yeah..." I grumble, sitting up in bed and turning on the light by my bed. She pushes open the door and walks in, tossing a couple of my duffle bags on the floor. "Thanks." I tell her, glancing at them. I still had so much packing to do. Kelly, who has been my best friend since kindergarten, and I had both gotten an internship in Ireland. We were moving in a week.

"Girl..." She looks at me skeptically. She flicks my over head light on and gives me a once over. "You're soaked in sweat, and why is there red an black make up all over you?" She questions. I give her a confused look before standing up and walking to my full sized mirror. There was black and red smudges all over my skin, mostly from where'd his mouth had been.

"God, this can't be real..." I murmur, touching the black color with my finger tips.

"Are you sure you're just not seeing someone and not telling me about it?" She asks, putting her hands on her hips. "Because your 'dreams' seem all to real." She comments.

"You know I"m not." I growl at her.

"I know." She sighs. "This isn't right, maybe you should find someone to talk to." She suggests, "YOu know like a medium or something. Maybe the guy is like dead, and he visits you in spirit. I've heard about shit like that." She says, her brown eyes looking at me desperately. I'd told her about these dreams a couple months ago, so she was used to me waking up sweaty, but this was a first with the paint.

"He's not dead." I tell her, walking into the bathroom. She leans against the door frame, and watches me wash my face. "He said in my dream that I needed to wake up and pack, because he'd be meeting me soon. In person." I say.

"Ok, that's creepy." She replies. I could tell that scared her a little bit.

"He knew exactly when I was moving." I sigh. "I mean maybe this is all just in my head, like it's just my imagination going wild." I shrug, trying to play it off for her benefit.

"Which doesn't explain the paint that is on your neck, you arms, between your fucking legs." She exclaims, not buying that for a second.

"We need to pack. We'll worry about it when something actually happens. Until then, moving, school and work girl. Focus." I say to her.

"I'm scared for you..." She murmurs unsure.

"There's nothing to be scared for, I haven't been hurt or attacked." I assure you.

"But you have been attacked, sexually. Which is just as dangerous." She rebuts.

"Kelly. Go pack." I say to her, "We have shit to get done." I redirect her attention.

***...***...***

"I feel like we just packed an entire how, now we have to unpack an entire house." Kelly grumbles. Her slim frame was crossed legged in the middle of our new living room, boxes surrounding her. We'd only brought along what we really needed, which was a lot more than what we'd originally thought. THe dreams stopped after that night, which was odd but a relief at the same time.

"We did. And we are." I chuckle. Tonight would be our first night in our new house in Ireland. We were in a cabin like house off Lough Derg lake in a small town called Bushypark. It was close to Deeryoober Bog, which is the area I would be working in. I was all about the Forrest and the environment. Kelly would be working in town. "I need to run into work and give professor Galloway my paper work. I'll be back later, maybe we'll go to the grocery store so we can eat." I chuckle.

"Alright. See you later." She mumbles, looking around at the boxes. She looked super overwhelmed. I grabbed my truck keys, which by the way cost a fortune to get over here, and headed out the door. The roads out here in the middle of no where were extremely narrow, making it difficult to pass by anyone going the opposite direction. I pulled up to the smaller office building that sat in the middle of the bog, the parking lot was literally gravel spread out in front of the building. I walked up to the building, and gave the door a pull, discovering it was locked. So I rang the doorbell that was next to the handle.

"Miss Brookes." Professor Galloway greets me, pulling open the door. "Please come in." He says, stepping to the side. "It's good to finally meet you in person. Mr. Banks has only said wonderful things about you." He tells me, shaking my hand. Mr. Banks was my college professor in Florida, where I was studying in the everglades.

"That's good to hear." I chuckle, "It's great to meet you too professor. I brought in the papers you needed." I tell him, starting to pull them out of my purse.

"Great, great." He smiles. "Come on into my office here, and I'll get those put away. Then I'll show you around the office building a little bit." He says. The professor was an old man, in his 50's. He had long brown hair peppered with gray that was pulled into a pony tail that sat low on his neck. I sat at one of the chairs and watching him file away the things I had given to him. "There isn't much to the building lass, obviously this is my office." He explains, leading me back out into the main area and motioning to a couple desks, "The secretaries are Donna and Becky. The other office next to mine belongs to Mr. Callahan, he mostly deals with accounting and bank stuff. Honestly you won't be in here much, you'll be out with the field team but it's good for you to at least know where the office is. There is also a warehouse that you'll see when you start on money, that's where all the supplies you'll need will be, and where you'll spend most of your time. Mrs. Archer will be training you for a week before you're out on your own." He explains.

"Sounds great." I smile. I wasn't much of an office girl anyway. I took this job knowing I would be out in the bog and the woods getting dirty and studying the wildlife. I heard the front door pull open and close with a click behind me, but didn't really think about it since I was still taking in the setting in front of me.

"Ah, Mr. Balor how nice of you to drop in." I hear professor Galloway greet him. "Mrs. Brookes, this is Finn Balor he funds most of what we do here." He introduces me. I turn around and come face to face with the bright blue eyes from my dreams. My breath is literally stuck in my throat, and I can't seem to find any words. He was in an all black suit.

"Delighted to meet you." He extends a hand towards me with a pause, then adds, "In person." With the faintest hint of a smirk.

"Mrs. Brookes, are you alright?" The professor asks, concern evident on his face. I managed to suck in a deep breath, and pull myself together enough to take his hand.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Balor." I try to smile.

"Professor Galloway has only said wonderful things about you." He winks. That voice... God I would know it anywhere. Granted I was used to a murmur in my ear, but still, I would know. I only smile at the professor, because honestly I was speechless right now.

"Well I don't want to overwhelm you for one day." Professor tells me, "I'm sure you still how a lot of unpacking to do." He adds and I nod.

"I do." I say, probably a little too eagerly. "It was great to finally meet you, and it was nice to meet you in person Mr. Balor but I should probably get going." I tell them both.

"Have a good day." Professor nods at me.

"Please, let me walk you out." Finn says, motioning to the door. All sorts of alarm bells were going off in my head saying that this was definitely a bad idea. Granted I could be wrong, maybe it was just coincidence that he sounded just like the guy in my dreams, that his eyes were exactly the same. And maybe when he said it was great to finally meet me in person, it was truly because professor had spoken well of me.

"That's alright, no worries. I'm sure you're here for something important." I say as politely as I could. "Have a good day gentleman." I tell them before hastily exiting the office. Without running, I walked as fast as I could back to my truck and wretched the door open pulling myself inside. My eyes kept glancing to the rear view mirror. "Jesus christ, Annabelle... Breath." I said to myself. I don't know why I was checking to see if he was following me. If Finn really was the guy in my dreams, he'd given me no reason to be scared of him, so checking the rear view was stupid. A few minutes later I pulled into the driveway and and walked up to the house.

"How was it? Is your professor nice?" Kelly asks, walking around the corner. "What's wrong?" She asks, with furrowed eyebrows.

"Professor is great." I tell her honestly. "I also met the man who funds the office... His name is Finn Balor." I say, she's looking at me expectantly. "And he was delighted to finally meet me." I paused, "In person." I watched as it registered on her face.

"Oh my god..." She murmurs.

"Yeah." I sigh, leaning against the counter.

"How do you know that he hadn't just heard good things about you and you're jumping to conclusions?" She asks, trying to be the voice of reason.

"His eyes Kel... I know those eyes." I murmur, thinking about him again. "And the voice, like I'd know it anywhere. That was him." I assure her.

"Ok. We're going to deal with this." She assure me back. "But lets focus, we need to unpack and we need food." She tells me. We were really good at trying to refocus each other in situations.

"Ok."

A/N: So... Love it? Hate it? Do I need to take it down and start over lol


	2. Chapter 2

The bathroom filled with steam and I pulled off my sweaty clothes from my first day of work out on my own. Kelly still hadn't gotten home, and said she needed to go to the store after work anyway. Everything piled down at my feet and I stepped into the shower, sighing as the water cascaded down my shoulders and over the rest of my body. My head snapped up and my eyes shot open when I felt a firmiliar set of hands trail from my lower back up to my shoulders, massaging my sore muscles.

"Your muscles are tight." He comments with his thick Irish accent.

"I'm not dreaming..." I whispered, mostly to myself. I swear I wasn't asleep right now.

"You're not dreaming." He confirms, "I'm here." He adds, still massaging my shoulders and back. I still hadn't turned around, hoping that I'd just wake up before he went any further.

"How?" I ask. "You can't just come into my house! That's not ok." I gasp, refusing to turn around. I had to be dreaming right now, I had to be. This wasn't happening.

"How did I get in here?" He questions. "We can discuss that later. Would you like for me to leave?" He asks calmly, spinning me around to face him. I was taken back this time, the paint he wore had started to drip down his face and down his chest, revealing bits and pieces of him.

"Finn..." I murmur, putting my hand up to his chest. My intention was to push his naked frame back a few inches, but instead my hand just kind of sat there. My brain screamed that I needed to tell him to leave, but there was that small part of me that really, really wanted him to stay.

"I've wondered what my name would sound like rolling off your tongue." He smirks, his thumb lightly caressing my cheek. It was taking ever ounce of self control I had to not look down at his manhood, but my eyes couldn't help but linger on areas of his defined chest. He was perfectly constructed. I didn't know what to say, I was still floored that he was in my house, in my shower, naked in front of me. Fingers play down my curve to my hip and he pulls me to him, our bodies flush against each other.

"What are you?" I manage to ask him. I was fully aware of the growing length against my thigh.

"We can discuss that later as well." He murmurs, leaning down and pressing his lips to mine. Just like in my dreams my body caved to his touch and I pushed myself harder against him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He'd only given me small doses in my dreams, always made me cum at least once usually twice, but he'd never pushed me all the way. He pushes me against the tile wall of the shower and his fingers invade my wetness, slipping two inside of me and using his thumb on my clit.

"Finn..." I moaned, biting down hard on his shoulder when his pace increased.

"That's it my love, say it again." He growl, the vibrations from it tickling my ear. He had the perfect pace and the roughness of his thumb on my clit was going to send me over the edge quickly.

"Oh my god... Finn..." I moan, drawing out his name again. He bit down on my neck, and sucked the soft flesh, making me gasp and grasp his biceps. It was also enough to push me just to that point. My nails dug into the skin on his arms as I came and my knees gave out. The only thing holding me up was his body against my own on the tile wall. He continued to hold me there, pressing soft, gentle kisses on my shoulder, collar bone and neck while I came back down to reality. My eyes finally focused on his face and he held a look that I can only describe as pleased.

"Kelly is home my love, I will see you tonight." He says, setting my full weight onto the floor of the shower. He made sure that I was holding myself before stepping out of the tub, and pulling the shower door closed behind him.

"Finn, hold on-" I say, pushing the door open. He was gone. There was no way he'd made it out of my house, perfect-butt assed naked past Kelly. With a sigh I finished showering, my legs still a little wobbly from the encounter. "Hey, how was work?" I ask her when I gotten changed and walked downstairs into the kitchen.

"It was ok, I didn't really do much." She shrugs. "You look tired." She chuckles, giving me the once over.

"I'm exhausted. Have you ever tried walking through a bog? It makes the mud in Florida looking like childs play." I basically scoffed. "It's ridiculous." I comtemplated telling her about my shower experience, but decided against it. The last thing i wanted to do was scare her more than she was already scared for me. Plus if she'd ever found out he got into the house uninvited, she'd flip a nut. The whole idea of him scared the hell out of her, while I was more intrigued and curious.

"Ew." She makes a face. Kelly was not much for getting dirty or sweaty, or really anything out doors. We stayed up and watched nexflix for a few hours and ordered a pizza before finally calling it a night around 11pm. "Why did we get 9-5 jobs again?" She grumbles unimpressed.

"Because we're responsible, bill paying adults." I sigh, pushing myself up from bed.

"It sucks." She mutters and I laugh.

"Good night Kelly." I smile, before walking up the stairs to my bedroom. My stomach was in knots, I thought that he might literally be in my bedroom waiting on me. When I pushed open the door and turned on the light the room was empty. I changed into a loose fitting tshirt and pulled off my jeans before sliding into bed and turning off the lights. It took me a long time to fall asleep. All I could think about was him sliding into bed next to me, when it never happened I eventually drifted.

"Good evening my love." He greets me. His hand slipped under my shirt and up my curve, before palming a breast and rolling his fingers over my nipple. He watches, seemingly interested as I roll over onto my back to look at him.

"Why didn't you come in person?" I ask him, almost accusingly. It only made him grin though. When I should be getting an exorcist or some junk to get rid or him, I"m asking why he wasn't there in the flesh instead. There's something wrong with me.

"Would you rather I was here in person?" He questions, his hand drifting over to my other breast. I took a moment to think about that, and he watched silently, his eyes darting down to where I'd pulled my lip between my teeth in thought. "I thought perhaps our one intense encounter today was plenty for you to handle on our first day." He tells me.

"What are you?" I ask him again. This time trying to sound firm, as if to add to my seriousness I took his wrist in my hand and pulled it away from my breast. He grins again, he seemed to be entertained by my action.

"It's something I'd rather take time to ease you into." He offers up after a moment of a stare down. "But I can assure you, Ireland is nothing like the home you came from. The lines between fantasy and reality are blurred here." He explains.

"What does that even mean?" I sigh, annoyed. These dreams, always felt way to real, and clearly they were sometimes after the night where body paint showed up on me.

"I'll allow you one question a night." He smirks, "And you've used up your one." He adds, pulling his wrist from my hand. He uses the hand to palm my face and pull a few soft, quick kisses from my lips.

"That's not fair." I pout, "I should be kicking you out of my dreams, my bed and my shower because in reality this is creepy as fuck." I growl at him.

"There's a reason I chose you." He chuckles. "You need to sleep my love, tomorrow will be just as exhausting as today." He tells me, dipping his head down and peppering my neck with kisses.

"Finn-" I go to respond to him but when I turned my head he was gone, and my dream was over. Or I assume it was because I don't remember anything after that. I woke up the next morning, for once not covered in sweat and actually pretty refreshed. Kelly was already gone, she had to be to work an hour earlier than me this morning. I drove the ten minutes to the warehouse, today would be an easy day. My job was to go around and literally get samples, all day long. About noon my phone buzzed in my pocket.

"How's work?" Text from Kelly.

"Almost done actually. Got two more sample to grab. You?" Text to Kelly.

"Not even close. Ugh. Still have so much stuff to enter into the computer. Dinner?" Text from Kelly.

"Was thinking we'd go out. That grill in town." Text to Kelly.

"Sounds good." Text from Kelly.

Later that night we were sitting in a booth at a place call McNally's grill. It was one of the few places to get lunch or dinner in an already small town. We had some potato skins already in front of us and I had a beer while Kelly had a coke. I was staring out the window and Kelly was busy on her phone when he walked up to our table.

"Annabelle." The smooth Irish accent greets me. My eyes meet Kelly's as I turn my head to look at him, a small hint of a smile played on his lips.

"Mr. Balor." I reply, nodding curtly. He looked very professional in his black slacks, black button up shirt and matching tye.

"Please, I prefer it when you call me Finn." He smiles, smoothing out his black tye.

"Finn then." I acknowledge. "Can I help you?" I ask him.

"I only wanted to say hello." He replies, glancing at Kelly. "How is your new position treating you?" He questions.

"This is Kelly. Kel this is Finn Balor." I introduce them, motioning between the two. "And it's good, I like being outside." I tell him. Kelly was wringing her hands on the table across from me, and I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Nice to meet you." She says to him, trying really hard to offer him a smile. She looked more in pain than anything.

"Pleasure." He nods. "I only came to pick up me dinner. I hope Ireland is treating you ladies well thus far. I'll be seeing you." He says, excusing himself.

"Later, I hope." I let the comment slip out of my mouth before I could even register it. Kelly's mouth dropped open and I turn red, mortified that I'd even said it. He gave an acknowledging glance over his shoulder, and I thought I may have seen a smirk but he thankfully didn't reply.

"Oh my god. I can't believe you said that." She hisses at me. "You like the guy now? Putting aside the fact that he is oh my god gorgeous.. Do you even know what is? What he could be? What he could do to you?" She asks me.

"Well besides make me cum multiple times in one night... No, have you researched?" I ask back in a sigh.

"Yeah I actually did the other day." She replies matter of factly completely ignoring the first part of my response. "Demons invade your dreams, what did the internet say..." She murmurs, "They call them incubus's." She crosses her arms over her chest. Ok... No more internet for her, I'm revoking wifi privlages.

"Kelly... Please stay off the computer." I chuckle, running my hand over my face. "He hasn't been hostil, he hsn't been rude, he hasn't been disrepectful. He's been nothing but a gentlemen since we met." I tell her. She now narrowed her eyes at me, "And maybe I'm a little sexually deprived." i sigh.

"Your love life must be rough if you're wanting some from something that clearly isn't human." She mutters, rolling her eyes.

Was he really a demon?

***...***...***

I was laying in bed later that night, thinking about what Kelly had said when I felt like I was clearly being watched. Like when your dog is staring at you from the edge of the bed kind of feeling.

"Finn?" I murmur, looking off into the dark corner of the room.

"Yes my love." He replies, stepping out of the shadows. He was different tonight, in a pair of black sweat pants and a tshirt. I preferred this over the paint honestly. He pulls his shirt off as he walks to the bed and crawls in next to me. "You wished to see me tonight." He comments.

"Ugh... I can't believe I said that out loud." I groan, putting both hands over my face out of embarrassment. He gently pulls my hands from my face, grinning at me. "Can I have my one question?" I ask him.

"That was a question." He smiles. I roll my eyes and let out a soft chuckle. "Go ahead darling." He nods.

"Are you a demon?" i question. He hesitates, studying my face before replying.

"Many would think of me as such, but it is quite the opposite." He explains, "I am a descendant of a God, and an astral traveler." He tells me, making my eyebrows furrow. "I'm sure it's difficult to understand coming from a country where the spiritual world is ignored or frowned upon. In Ireland, we embrace it."

"What is an astral traveler?" I ask him, hoping he wouldn't start in on that one question a night crap. I just needed to know more about him. "And I think 'descendent of god' deserves more of an explanation." I say, my eyes getting wider just thinking about it.

"It allows me to disconnect myself from my own body and travel in the dream world. It's how I found you." He explains. I go to ask another question but he quickly silences me, "The god part is not as easy to explain, I'm not ready to tell you nor do I believe you're ready to hear it." He states. My eyes wander over his face, examining every feature.

"Can anyone travel between dreams?" I wonder out loud.

"Yes, it takes extreme focus to do so." He answers. "Please no more questions tonight." he sighs. He slides a muscled arm under my neck and pulls me against him. "Go to sleep, my love." He murmurs. My head rests on his shoulder and he begins running his fingers through my hair. After that, sleep came way too easy.

I mean seriously... Can any of this be real?

A/N: Ohmygosh... So many awesome reviews for that first chapter! Yay! :) A little more exploring into my supernatural side, maybe a little bit more dark in the future...?


	3. Chapter 3

When I woke up he was gone, which didn't surprise me, it was a new gone though because the space on the bed where he had been was still warm. I laid in bed for a few minutes, and stewed. Why did he leave in the middle of the night, or at least before I woke up? I think we needed to establish exactly what was going on here and what this would be. Kelly would throw a shit fit if i told her I was even entertaining the idea of Finn and i being anything at all.

"Can I block someone from my dreams...?" I wonder to myself, sitting up in bed.

"Why would you want to do that?" His voice asks. He walks out of the bathroom, and I looked at him speechless. "That would hurt my feelings." He smirks.

"I thought you'd left." I murmur, glancing around my room. He walks over to me and takes my chin in his hand forcing me to look at him.

"Why would I do that?" He questions. His blue eyes searched my own, and scanned my face.

"I dont know... I guess don't understand what you want from me..." I say to him.

"I don't want anything from you." He says, emphasizing 'from'. "I just want you, all of you." He shrugs simply.

"And you thought that invading my dreams and scaring the shit out of me in the shower was the best way to go about all of this?" I ask curiously.

"I'm not accustomed to what you'd consider normal human ways of flirting." He states. For a split second I saw a look of embarrassment cross his face, but just as quick as I saw it the look was gone. "I should leave you be."

"Well, I do have stuff to do today." I shrug. I had to go into town, go to the store, take my truck in for an oil change, some paper work from work... Just boring stuff.

"It's not that simple, and that's not what I meant." He shakes his head. Clearly I'd missed something. "I should no longer visit you in person, it was a mistake." He sighs. I look at him dumbfounded, like he'd literally just slapped me in the face.

"I'm sorry?" I ask him, tilting my head to the side. I'm in instant defense mode. "You came to me! Not the other way around, I didn't fucking ask for anything of this." I growl at him. He walks up to me and puts both hands on either of my shoulders, rubbing them gently. The action does nothing for my anger, I'm still fuming.

"I fear my own selfishness to have you has put you at risk." He says, "It is not because I think coming to you was a mistake." He murmurs.

"What does that mean?" I ask him. How could he be putting me at risk?

"It's nothing you need to worry about. Please just forget I said anything." He sighs. "I must depart, I do actually have meetings to attend today and I must get dressed." He tells me.

"If I'm in risk," I say that using finger quotes, "Then I think I need to worry." I mutter annoyed. "You can't just tell someone to forget you mentioned something like that." I add, putting a hand on my hip.

"Have a wonderful day, my love." He ignores my comment, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I sigh and watch him reach for my bedroom door handle.

"Wait, are you coming back?" I ask him, biting my bottom lip. I know I shouldn't want him around, because in all reality everything he's done has been super creepy and stalkerish.

"Do you want me to?" He questions.

No. Yes. Maybe? Yes...

"Yes." I say in barely a whisper.

"Then I will return." He nods.

***...***...***

"Where are you going?" I ask Kelly with a grin. She'd pulled out one of her classy black dresses, and a pair of crazy high heels. She was also running around the house like a chicken without a head.

"I have a date tonight." She tells me frantically. "I can't find my hair dryer!" She exclaims, "And he's picking me up in an hour." She murmurs, digging through the bathroom drawer.

"A date? With who?" I ask her skeptically. "Use mine, it's in my bathroom." I add.

"His name is Stephen, I met him the other day at the office." She tells me. She was talking to me, but she wasn't really paying attention to our conversation. Her replies were slow and not very focused. "He's taking me... To a nice restaurant in the city." She adds.

"Oh..." I murmur. I was still leaning against the bathroom door frame, both arms crossed over my chest.

"Yes. So when are you seeing your demon again?" She asks me with a smirk. I glower at her.

"I don't know." I sigh. I hadn't told her about anything that he told me earlier this morning before he left. As you've probably figured out by now, she'd freak out. "He had meetings all day." I tell her.

"You need to figure out what he is." She says, narrowing her eyes at me.

"I get it, Kelly." I grumble, rolling my eyes. I chose that particular moment to retreat back into the kitchen and dig around through the cupboards. If she was going out on a date that means I was on my own for dinner tonight. My phone buzzed on the counter and I leaned my body half on it, reading the message.

"What are your plans for the night?" It was a text from a number I didn't know, but already knew it was Finn. So I saved it in my phone.

"I don't know. Kelly has a date. I'm digging through the kitchen for dinner." Text to Finn.

"Stop digging and put on something nice. You have a date as well." Text from Finn.

Oh, he thinks he can just bark orders at me? Even though I may enjoy those kind of orders.

"Why don't you try that again..." Text to Finn.

He'd been an instant text back up until that moment, and I was just about to turn back around to the fridge when my phone went off again, making me smirk.

"Would you care to join me for dinner tonight, as well as a show later in the evening?" Text from Finn.

That was better.

"I would love that." Text to Finn.

"I'll pick you up about 6." Text from Finn.

"I'll be ready." Text to Finn.

"You're not the only one with a date tonight!" I call down the hall to her bedroom. She pulls open the door and sticks her head out, "Finn is picking me up at 6." I say to her.

"What are you going to wear?" She asks, suddenly concerned about my date appearance. Also not so suddenly concerned of the fact that he may not be human.

"I'll figure out something." I shrug, walking up the stairs to my bedroom. It was 4:30 right now, that gave me just enough time to get myself ready to go. I was in my closet after I'd showered, towel wrapped around me and looking for a dress when I heard the door bell.

"See you later!" Kelly called up to me.

"Have fun!" I shout back. I ended up pulling out a shorter white dress, it was very pretty but it was very simple as well, along with a pair of white and black leopard print heels. My hair took me the longest, it was long, and thick and had a natural wave to it. When I didn't manage it, literally it looked like a bird nest. I ended up pinning part of it up and leaving the rest down, blowing drying it out. Right at 6 there was a knock on the door, thankfully I was actually ready. I pull open the door, he was in his black slacks, a black button up shirt with a vest over it. "Hey." I smile at him.

"You look stunning." He tells me right off the bat, his eyes raking over my body.

"Thank you." I tell him.

"Are you ready to go?" He asks me.

"Yes." I nod, pulling the door shut behind me. "What's this show you were talking about?" I ask him when we were in the car.

"It's a surprise." He winks, sliding his hand over my bare thigh. I roll my eyes but don't push for an answer, I was just happy to be out in public with him on a real date. I wasn't exactly a 'friends with benefits' kind of girl, and that's kind of how I started feeling after his visits. Even though we hadn't even had sex yet. "I was starting to think you didn't want to be seen with me." I murmur, glancing out the window.

"Why would you think something like that?" He questions, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"I don't know..." I shrug. "I guess because until now you haven't shown any signs of wanting anything more than the satisfaction of making me cum." It felt weird to say that out loud, but that's how I was feeling.

"You don't want me to make you cum?" He asks in a low husky tone. A tone that make the heat pool in my abdomen, and he knew it. I glower at him, trying really hard to be annoyed with him. "I told you my love, I'm trying to ease you into this. How would you have reacted if I'd have walked into your home and told you that you were to be with me instead of being a gentleman about it?" He questions.

"Putting it like that didn't help your situation any." I growl at him.

"Apologies. I should have said that you were 'meant' to be with me." He corrects himself. "That it was destined to be."

"Well, that's better." I shrug.

"I came to your in your dreams because I didn't have the control to stay away from you." He continues. "Much like now, I shouldn't be seeing you but I do not have the control to stay away from you. My soul is drawn to yours." He shrugs as if it was the most simple thing in the world. I don't know why I even asked, I didn't understand a word of what he was saying.

"Ok." I finally said.

Dinner was dinner. He took us to a nice place in Dublin before pulling into front of the theatre downtown. The banner read 'Cirque Du Solei'. Butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. I'd heard a lot of really cool things about this show, but I never thought I'd be lucky enough to see it live.

"Have you heard of it?" He asks me, opening the door for me to get out.

"I have." I nod, "I never thought I would see it live though." I tell him honestly. He extends and arm that I wrap my own around, following him inside. He had a suit just above the stage and we sat down in front of the rail. "This is really cool." I smile over at him.

"I'm glad you enjoy it." He smiles back. It was rare that I actually saw him smile, it was usually just a hint of one or a smirk but this was a sincere smile. I unknowingly narrow my eyes at him, "Why are you looking at me like that?" He questions, tilting his head slightly.

"There's a personality under there somewhere. All I know to this point is your a little bossy, and slightly arrogant, but extremely handsome." I tell him, "And if you plan on sticking around than I want to find it." I say seriously. Up to this point I hadn't really gotten to know him. I knew he had a gifted tongue and fingers, and I'm sure his bedroom skills weren't lacking but I wanted to get inside his head.

"I don't plan on going anywhere." He smirks, "You're stuck with me." He adds with a wink.

The show was the most awesome thing I've ever watched. The acrobatics were absolutely amazing. The way the people were able to move, and twist their bodies was incredible. I had to applaud them for how they put their bodies on the line every day for these shows. By the end of it all my chin was propped in my hands and my elbows were sitting on the railing in front of us. Finn had sat back in his chair the whole show, casually watching it in front of him. I got the sense that he'd seen it before. I could already tell that he had a very calm demeanor, which I was very ok with.

"That was amazing. Thank you for taking me." I tell him after it was over.

"You're very welcome." He nods curtly. He opened the passenger door for me and closed it before walking over to the driver side and sliding in. "Would you rather come home with me tonight?" He questions, turning the engine over. Had this been a first date with any other man, I'd have probably slapped the taste out of their mouth, but it's not like we were new to each other. Plus I wanted to get a better look into his life.

"Sure." I reply softly.

What he considered home was ridiculous. I'd seen pictures and heard about the castles in Ireland, but I never thought I'd see one in person and I definitely never thought I'd be walking into one. It was gorgeous, and huge.

"This is amazing." I murmur, kicking my heels off on the rug next to the front doors.

"It's home." He shrugs as if it was no big deal.

"You live here by yourself?" I ask curiously. I guess I just couldn't fathom living alone in such a huge space. Like I"m not kidding guys, it had to be at least 10,000 square feet. Not the biggest stone castle ever, but it was big enough for one person... Or a small African village.

"I do." He nods. "Gertrude comes daily to keep it tidy." He adds, "But she goes home t her husband every night after."

"Ridiculous." I shake my head.

"What? You don't like it?" He asks accusingly. I was about to turn around and say something but I saw the smirk across his face and hesitated. There was some of that personality.

"It's awesome." I answer honestly. I pulled at the hem of my dress, pulling it down another inch or two over my butt, "I think dinner went right to my ass... Fuckin' dress." I grumble.

"Yeah it did." He chuckles, turning on his heel and walking of down a hallway.

"You asshole." I laugh, following after him. He glances over his shoulder and I know I saw a grin on his face. "Where are you going?" I ask him, it felt like the never ending hallway.

"Upstairs to the bedroom. It's late, aren't you tired?" He questions. He rounds the corner and starts up the giant stone stair case, by the time I got to the top my calves were seriously on fire. "Make yourself at home." He says, pushing open the french doors to the bedroom. It was a huge room. There was a full living room set in there, along with a typical man flatscreen TV, a dresser, nightstand and a huge four post bed. So that's exactly what I did. I walked into the bathroom and used a wash cloth to take off my make up before I dug through his dresser for a tshirt to wear. When I came back out of the bathroom he was sitting on the edge of the bed, no shirt in only a pair of black sweat pants.

"Finn..." I murmured, walking towards him. Was I making a mistake if I wanted him to give me everything tonight?

A/N: I'm going to start really digging into this supernatural demon/god thing in the next few chapters. It's really fun to write, I'm glad you guys are enjoying it :)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Ugh... Again with my nervousness of putting out a chapter. Sigh.

"Don't ask for something you're not ready for..." He murmurs, watching me stalk towards him. When I was within arms reach his hand came out and fingers danced up my thigh.

"Who says I'm not ready?" I ask him with a raised eyebrow. "You've only been teasing me for months now." I add, making him grin. Both hands run up the back of my legs and cup my butt cheeks.

"I'm not ready to give it to you yet." He tells me. I let out a sigh, but I wasn't going to make him do something he wasn't ready to do. "I want you to know exactly who and what I am, which isn't as simple as it sounds... And after you know everything and you still want this and me, I'll give it to you like you've never had it before."

"Ok." I can only agree with him.

"You know I'll still keep you satisfied in the mean time." He growls into my ear, making me shudder against him.

"You'd better." I smirk.

"Come with me home tomorrow." He suggests. I furrow my brow, because now I was super confused. He smirks, "My other home. I'm only in this world because it's the one you're in." He states.

"You've lost me." I say.

"If you say yes, you'll see what I"m talking about." He rebuts.

"Am I going to regret saying yes to this? Where are you taking me?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at him. I was already a pretty distrusting person, and this whole situation kind of makes me nervous.

"I wouldn't take you anywhere that you'd be in danger." He chuckles, trying to reassure me. "You're never in danger while I"m around." He adds with a shrug. "It's not a place on a map that I can just point to and say that's where we're going. This is an occasion that you're just going to have to put trust in me." His blue eyes meet my own and I finally sigh.

"Ok." I agree.

"Who caused you to be so distrusting?" He asks curiously. I glower at him, and he only raises his eyebrows almost as if he was challenging me.

"Bad ex boyfriends." I shrug simply. I crawl up the length of his bed and use my cell phone to text Kelly, letting her know she had the house to herself tonight.

"Hey, not home tonight. Hope your date went well!" Text to Kelly.

"Are we going to bed or what?" I ask him. Not wanting to discuss my past boyfriends with him at the moment.

***...***...***

When I woke up the next morning and rolled over, he was still asleep. I took the quiet moments to study his face, his neck, his chest and everything else that I could see. There was no way that they made men this perfect. Shit, there was no way a man this perfect could even be remotely interested in me. Yet, here he was.

"Good morning." He yawns, stretching his body out next to me. An arm slips under my neck and pulls me up against him. I used the tip of my finger to trace the lines between his abdominal muscles, and the curve under his pec. He laid there quietly, perfectly content to watch my exploration as I did so. Every once in a while his thumb would stroke the skin on my arm.

"How old are you?" I ask curiously, because it dawned on me just then that I had no idea how old he was. There was so much I didn't know about him. He seems rather uncomfortable with that question, shifting nervously under my fingers.

"Again, I think that's a question better answered after you know everything." He finally answers. He'd chosen his words carefully, I could basically see him mulling them over in his head before he said them. I narrow my eyes at him, which didn't go unnoticed. "I'm older than you." He offers, hoping that I'd take it.

"Fine." I grumble and roll my eyes.

"Would you like breakfast? I'm sure Gertrude wouldn't mind making something." He says. His fingers were lightly running up and down the length of my arm.

"I'm not hungry." I say softly. I rest my head on his shoulder and snuggle myself against him more if that were even possible.

"You're very affectionate in the mornings." He comments. He took my hint and wrapped both arms around me, cocooning me against him.

"I'm affectionate all the time." I scoff.

"This is the first time I've seen it." I feel him shrug.

"WHen are we leaving?" I ask after a few minutes of silence. He sighs and his grip around me slacks as he pulls back to scan my face. "What?"

"I don't want to lose you because of what you may not understand, or fear." He answers. "Please go into this with an open mind, and whatever you may see or whatever may happen, don't be afraid. You're always safe with me."

"Ok..." I murmur. It was too late though, because after he said all that I was in full panic mode. He nods and slides out of bed, going to his closet for some clothes. I remember what he'd said from last night and basically did the same, walking over to his dresser and pulling out some sweat pants and a tank top. The sweats would be a little long and big, but I could tie the waist for now.

"You look better in my clothes than I do." He winks.

"I doubt that." I chuckle, shoving my phone into the back pocket. We drive through the bog for what seemed like forever but it was probably only about 15 minutes before he parked in the grass in a totally random spot. There were no buildings, there was no house, it was just woods. The trees in this part of the bog were ridiculous, they stood just as wide as they were tall it seemed.

"Come on then." He nods his head towards the wooded area. I take a deep breath and follow him through the grass until we finally come to a tree that was significantly larger than the others. "This is it." He says, motioning towards the tree.

"Ya lost me." I say, giving the tree another once over. "There's nothing here." I state in a bland tone.

"You're not looking hard enough." He tells me. He takes my hand and pulls me back a couple steps, looking hard at the roots of the tree. After about 30 seconds the roots began to tingle, and vibrate before they actually split apart. The other side was dark, and sketchy, and if we're being honest I didn't want to walk in there. "Come." He murmurs, lacing his fingers in mine. He literally had to give me a good tug before my feet finally moved and followed him into the dark. We walked about ten feet before it seemed to just open up.

"Holy shit..." I whispered, glancing back at the tree we'd came from. It looked exactly the same, but this place, it definitely wasn't the same.

"Welcome to Agartha." He smiles.

"What, the actual, fuck." Was all I could come up with in a soft whisper.

"Agartha is the land that much of the Irish folklore comes from. All those mythical creatures, all the things of your nightmares, they all live here." He tells me in a matter of fact kind of tone. "The land at the Earth's core." He'd hardly finished his sentence when I heard the distinct sound of hooves on the ground. Within seconds we're surrounded by a group of Centaurs, half man, half horse and all sorts of powerful. My eyes are golfball sized as they darted from face to face.

"You know the rules, even the one who wears the eye cannot bring an outsider to our land." The biggest one, who clearly was the leader of this 'heard', says to Finn, walking a few steps towards him.

"You'll find that I can." Finn basically growled at the guy, "She is my one promised." He adds. I make a mental note to ask him about that later, because it sounded like a piece of property to me. "Don't pick a fight you can't win Centaur." He tells him. In my peripheral vision I can see him fisting his hand, a few seconds later a perfectly round ball of flames formed in his palm. The sight made the blood drain from my face.

"We'll see about that." The Centaur replies. He motions to the rest of them, and they retreat, slowly, back into the woods. When they were finally out of sight, the flame seemed to just evaporate into thin air.

"I'd like to go back." I manage to squeak. He'd been focused on watching them retreat away, but his head turned and ice blue eyes focused on my face instead. His features instantly went softer.

"I've frightened you." He comments.

"Please take me back." I plead softly. I thought I was ready for whatever he was going to throw at me today, but I wasn't. This was way too much for me to handle, and I'd like to go home. He only nods, taking us back through the same tree we'd walked through before. I say nothing as he pulls open the car door for me, and slide into the passenger seat. We pull into my driveway about an hour later, the silence in the car was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"I'm sorry if that scared you, I should have waited longer." He finally says, putting the car into park. I couldn't even look at him. It wasn't him that scared me. It was the whole situation, the whole completely different land... The flame that he'd easily conjured, made me realize that he's probably more powerful that i could have imagined. "If it makes you more comfortable you can just tell me when you're ready." He offers.

"I'll think about it." I finally answer him, glancing over at his form. I, on purpose didn't make eye contact which I'm sure didn't go unnoticed. "Please just let me sleep tonight." I say to him. I tried to ignore the hurt that obviously laced his features as I got out of the car, shutting the door behind me. I walked up my steps and into my front door without looking back. Kelly was in the living room, watching Ridiculousness. "You're right, I shouldn't be getting involved with him." I tell her, throwing my purse onto the couch.

"What happened?" She asks. She hits the power button and the TV screen goes black.

"It's complicating, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you." I tell her, pulling my vibrating phone from my purse. Thank god I had to work tomorrow, get my mind of this crazy stuff.

"I truly am sorry if I frightened you." Text from Finn.

I chose to ignore it. His power scared me, it did. The fact that a whole heard of at least 12, very large, Centaurs chose to retreat into the woods over fighting one 'man' told me he had more power than what I was capable of handling. And what in the hell did this 'one promised' mean?!

"Try me." She crosses her arms over her chest.

"I went through a portal in the woods today. Took me to a "mythical" land that lies in the Earth's core. It's called Agartha, and Finn says it's where your nightmares as well as fantasy creatures live." I rattle off to her casually.

"You're right, that seems a little far fetched." She chuckles, shaking her head. "You're sure you weren't just dreaming?" She asks me.

"I'm sure. It's not funny Kelly, junk was real." I insist, "And I don't want to talk about it anymore. He lit a fucking fire ball! And not the whiskey kind! Right there in his hand, and scared off a bunch of really big horse men." I exclaim, throwing my hands in the air. Her expression right now is priceless.

"Listen, I told you he was something you shouldn't mess around with." She finally says.

"I don't need to hear that." I grumble at her.

"I'm sorry." She shrugs, "It's just, hard to believe."

"I'm never telling you anything again." I roll my eyes, pushing myself up off the couch.

"I love you, and I believe you. I just don't know what to tell you, because let's admit that's a weird situation to give advice about." She calls to me as I walked into the kitchen. I pull open the fridge door and grab a beer, sucking down half of it right away. "I have zero advice to give. Maybe you should change your name though, like Xena warrior princess or something." She winks.

"Kelly..." I growl at her, getting annoyed.

"I'm just trying to lighten the situation." She says softer. "So what are you going to tell him?" She questions.

"I don't know. I thought I was prepared for whatever he was going to throw at me today, but clearly I was wrong. It legit scared the hell out of me." I admit. "I told him to just let me sleep tonight, AKA don't bother me tonight."

"Well that was shitty of you." She narrows her eyes at me, and I scoff my own disbelief of what she'd replied with.

"Me?!" I exclaim.

"Yeah, you." She states. "I haven't exactly been on the Finn Balor bandwagon but, he was opening up a part of his life to you and shit on it." She tells me, crossing both arms over her chest. "He clearly had enough trust in you to show you who he is, and you were a total bitch about it." I glower at her, because damn her that she was right. Yes I was scared, and I let it get the best of me.

"I hate you." I mutter, drinking the rest of my beer. "Now I have to go eat a bunch of crow..." I sigh, throwing myself down on the couch. "If there are fucking horse people in there, what else is in there? Vampires? Dragons? Animals that talk? Things of nightmares..." I murmur to myself.

"I think vampires and dragons qualify as things of nightmares." She chuckles. "Bigfoot, yeti's, werewolves, witches?" She questions, "It literally could be anything. What was he exactly again?" She asks me.

"I don't know, I haven't really gotten an actual legit answer. He's said that he's a decedent from a God, and an astral traveler. He hasn't explained the God part, but astral travelers can travel between dreams. That's how he is able to come into my dreams at night." I explain to her.

"Ugh." She groans. "Call your boyfriend and apologize." She tells me, tossing me my cell phone.


	5. Chapter 5

I didn't call him right away. Mostly because I was embarrassed and feeling sheepish myself. So I sat upstairs in my bedroom for a good few hours, watching reruns from NCIS. My cell phone was sitting in my lap and I keep hitting my center button, hoping that he might just message me first but it never came.

"I'm sorry." Text to Finn.

I chewed on my bottom lip while I was waiting for a reply, which came quick enough.

"You have nothing to apologize for, I moved you too fast." Text from Finn.

"Come over." Text to Finn.

I set my phone down and went into the bathroom, checking my face to make sure that I wasn't looking a mess. When I was sure I looked ok I walked back out, he was sitting on the edge of the bed. I knew it wouldn't take him long to get here, however he does that.

"You didn't. I let my fear get the best of me." I sigh, leaning up against the wall behind me. "And it didn't exactly seem like I was welcome there." I add.

"The centaurs have no say over you." He basically scoffed. It was pretty obvious that he held disdain towards them just by his facial expressions and the way he spat his reply out.

"You could have prepared me a little more..." I accuse him softly. He stares at me a moment and I smirk, making him chuckle and shake his head. "I mean saying you're going to take me 'home' is one thing, you could have mentioned everything else." I shrug.

"I'm sorry, my love." He smiles. "You hardly saw anything, there are two more portals to pass through before we reached my land. Barzakh, then to Irkalla." He explains as if it were really just that simple. "Perhaps you need more time to think about all this." He suggests.

"I want you." I finally admit out loud. "Where ever you came from is apart of who you are. I don't need time, I just need to suck it up." I say. His laughter fills the room and I roll my eyes, trying to hide my own grin.

"Say it again." He murmurs, taking both my hands and lacing our fingers. He'd already pulled me between his legs, and I was staring down at him.

"I want you." I say again.

"It's like music." He smiles. "Regardless, we will wait a little longer." He chuckles. "If I can't get you past the centaurs how will I get you past the Abada's, Alseid's, and Alu's? Among many other things." He asks me. He pulled me down into his lap and I put my arms around his neck.

"Do I even want to know what all that stuff was?" I ask him skeptically.

"Forest spirits, nymphs, and demons." He replies casually. "Of course the list goes on. Not everything is evil or dangerous. The Nymphs would love you." He tells me. He looked up at me and noticed my wide eyed expression. "I don't want to brag..." He starts off, raising he eyebrows with a smirk, "But there is not much more powerful than I, regardless of which land we happen to be in. Including this one." He says in a lower tone.

"Well, that was arrogant." I state.

"Facts, darling." He shrugs.

"You're ridiculous." I shake my head. My fingers traced his hairline along the back of his neck and he shuddered under the touch. Now that I think about it, I hadn't really had a chance to put my hands on him. Yeah I'd slept cuddled next to him at night but I hadn't gotten time to figure out what makes him 'tick' so to speak.

"If you don't stop I'll lose my own control." He warns me and I grin. "You'd enjoy that?" He questions, raising his eyebrows at me, a smirk evident on his face.

"I might." I reply nonchalantly, trying to make it seem like it didn't matter to me either way. He saw through that though, I could tell just by the way he was looking at me right now. "I really am sorry though. I said I'd have an open mind and I totally didn't." I sigh.

"Don't fuss over it." He says, pressing his lips to my bare shoulder. "I was hoping you'd come back around."

"Thank Kelly, I'd probably still be freaked out if she hadn't beat sense into me." I reply honestly. We sit in silence for a moment, his arms wrapped around me and my forehead pressed to his cheek. "I'm hungry." I finally comment.

"You're always hungry." He chuckles.

"Like you'd know." I sneered at him.

"Would you like me to cook dinner?" He offers.

"You cook?" I question, my interest peaked.

"I do. Rather well too." He nods.

"Well shit, let me take you to the kitchen then, Chef Balor." I tease him. He chuckles, and follows me out the bedroom door, and down the steps. Kelly glances up from her place on the couch, and her eyes divert to Finn behind me.

"I should be surprised." She comments, "But I"m not." She adds, flipping some of that long blonde hair behind her shoulder.

"Good evening, Kelly." He greets her.

"Be nice. He's about to cook dinner." I tell her.

"In that case... It's great to see you Finn, how have you been?" She smiles sweetly at him, following us into the kitchen. We watch him pull out some chicken, various vegetables, and cream of whatever soups.

"Don't get too excited ladies, it's only a casserole." He grins.

"Better than what we were going to have." Kelly tells him.

"Which was?" He questions.

"Nothing." I answer and Kelly nods.

"You always finish each others sentences?" He smirks.

"Sometimes." We both reply in unison. He grins and shakes his head at both of us. Kelly was pretty much the sister that I never got to have. I grew up with three older brothers, in a Southern family with one hell of a protective daddy. He still is that way to this day, may god look after the man that I bring home someday.

***...***...***

How could I be so ridiculously comfortable with a guy that I just met less than a couple weeks ago? We were laying in bed a few nights later in his home.

"Gertrude is quite fond of you." He comments. His fingers were fisted in my hair, softly massaging the scalp.

"She's a sweet old lady." I murmur. My eyes were closed and I was tucked into the curve of his side. "I get the sense that she's terrified of you. She told me that I should stay away and leave Ireland while I can." I tell him honestly.

"As she should be, and as you should." He admits with a heavy sigh. Honestly it didn't even make me open an eye. The talk the last couple days is how it could be dangerous for me to be here, and until we've "established" ourselves in his world that I was indeed at risk. Now the only problem with that is he refused to take me back through there until he was certain I was ready. Regardless of what I said.

"I'm a dumb girl." I shrug. "Because I'm not leaving." I tell him.

"There aren't many times where I don't know how to respond to something, but this is one of the few." He tells me. "But you're not dumb." He add with a chuckle.

"What does 'one promised' mean?" I ask curiously, remembering it from the other day. "Because it sounds possessive, and I didn't particularly enjoy it." I grumble.

"It means soul mate." He answers simply. "Nothing bad, or possessive."

"And what if I don't feel the same way?" That was a shitty question to ask, but I wanted to know. If something drastic happened, and I just couldn't handle everything that was him and he was about, exactly what would happen. I think, so far, I'd taken the whole 'destined to be together' crap pretty well.

"We can discuss it later." He murmurs, obviously uncomfortable with the question. He wasn't getting out of it that easily though.

"Oh no, uh huh. You're going to tell me." I tell him seriously. He sighs, and thinks about his answer carefully. "Would you force me?" I ask and his eyes get wide in disbelief.

"Never. It would hurt my heart to see you miserable with me, which would happen if I forced something like this on you." He shakes his head. "The only way my kind can die is at war or of a broken heart." He sighs. "So my heart would break and my existence would perish. Not that my actual heart would break, but the depression it would send me into would be my demise." He tells me.

"So no pressure then..." I mutter. "It's a good thing I'm pretty fond of you then." I add. "What did the centaur mean when he said 'the one who wears the eye'?" I ask another question, hoping that he'd just answer everything I asked him instead of playing the one question a day game again. He lets out a heavy sigh, "Stop trying to ease me into shit, just tell me what I want to know." I say seriously. It made him grin.

"I quite enjoy your feisty attitude." He chuckles. "You promise you won't run? You know I'd never hurt you, right?" He questions. Butterflies fluttered around in my stomach, because why would he ask me that if it wasn't something bad... But I said I'd be open, and I was forcing him to answer me.

"Yes." I tried to say it evenly but it was a soft tone, almost a whisper.

"It's part of my last name, Balor. Balor means 'the deadly one'." He answers slowly, watching my reaction as he said each word.

"I thought you were from a God?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"I am. I did not, however, mention whether it was from a good God or not." He sighs. "I come from Balor, though I am not him himself I inherited qualities and powers. They say Balor was a giant, with a large eye that when opened caused nothing but destruction." He explains. "It was always covered with seven cloaks to keep it cool. He took the cloaks off one by one. At the first, ferns began to wither. At the second, grass began to redden. At the third, wood and trees began to heat up. At the fourth, smoke came out of wood and trees. At the fifth, everything got red hot. At the sixth everything began to smoke. At the seventh, the whole land caught fire" He finishes.

"I'm not sure I'd be quite as head over heels for you if you only had one eye." I admit, trying to lighten the mood after that heavy explanation. He glances at me, he was just zoned out for a second and cracks a smile. "So what's 'home' like?" I ask, trying to prepare myself.

"Well the castle is much larger." He shrugs simply.

"What do you even need something that big for?" I basically scoff, shaking my head.

"It's home to many, not just I." He answers. "Staff mostly, some soldiers."

"Soldiers for what?" I furrow my brows.

"War." He states nonchalantly.

"War for what?" I ask, my tone going lower.

"For when someone thinks that can come into my land and take what's mine." He says in his own low and dangerous tone. "Think of it as... An episode of Hercules. I'm the bad guy, others are constantly trying to take what is mine..."

"Oh." Was all I could come up with. He chooses to stay quiet himself, and we lay there in silence for a few minutes. "So who's watching your junk while you're here?" I ask curiously.

"Balimere. He's my second in command." He says softly. He was almost asleep, hence the soft reply and I glance up to see his eyes closed. I felt jealous at that comment, I know I shouldn't be, but I was. "You tensed up." He notices, cracking open an eye to look at me.

"I did?" I ask and he nods. "I didn't notice." I shrug it off.

"May we please go to sleep now?" He asks me with a sigh. He really, really didn't want to talk about this anymore, but how was I ever going to be ready if he didn't discuss this stuff with me.

"No." I answer simply. That made him open both eyes to look at me. My fingers walk up his chest before I used a hand to pull his face to mine and press our lips together. I trace his bottom lip with my tongue before pulling it between my teeth, making him groan into my mouth.

"Oh really?" He grins when we break apart. I answer with a soft 'mmhmmm' and shiver as his fingers slide down my arm and the curve of my hip. He easily slips my panties to the side and I let out a soft moan when his fingers found my clit. They made slow circles and my back arched off the bed. His lips press along my shoulder and up around my neck as he dipped a finger inside me.

"Mmmm... Finn." I groan, running my fingers through his short hair. He responds by pumping his fingers into me at a faster pace, curving them up and hitting my gspot each time. My moans get louder as his pace increased.

"Let go, my love." He murmurs against my ear. He takes the lobe between his teeth and gives it a gentle bite, driving me over the edge. I came all over his fingers, and my body shuddered. I closed my eyes and my chest raises and falls quickly as I try to catch my breath again. "Feel better?" He asks me. He kisses my cheek, then my temple.

"Yes." I smile, snuggling back up against him. I wasn't done though. My own hand began tracing his abdominal muscles, grinning when the skin twitched under my finger tips. I traveled lower, letting my finger trail along the line of his V to his boxers. I glance up at him and green eyes meet a pair of very unsure blue ones. "Let me take care of you." I say softly. He doesn't reply, but gives me a short nod after a minute of thought. My hand slips under the waistband of his boxers and I wrap my fingers around his already rock hard length. He sucks in a deep breath and closes his eyes, rolling his head back into the pillow as I began stroking him. I pushed the comforter off of us and straddle his lap, pressing my lips over his collar bone, down his chest and abs until I reached the waistband again.

"Annabelle..." He murmurs. He was clearly and obviously nervous, for what I had no idea. Though this was the first time that he'd actually let me repay the favor so to speak. I don't respond but pull his boxers down enough to let his, rather impressive, length bounce free. He's staring at me and I again take it in my hand, keeping eye contact with him when I slid my tongue from the base of him to the tip. His hand came down and his fingers fisted into my hair when I took the head into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it. I took that as a go ahead and bob my head up and down along his length, using my hand behind my mouth to cover what I couldn't get. He was trying not to pull my hair as he got closer to his own release. My free hand was wandering around his body, from his muscular thighs to his abs and over his chest. He says something in another language that I didn't understand, but the urgent tap on my shoulder was the same in any language... 'I'm about to cum'. I pulled my mouth away and used my hand to stroke him the rest of the way, until I'm met with rope after rope of cum. My eyes probably got a little wide watching it shoot up and land on his chest and even up to his neck.

"Do you feel better?" I ask him with a grin, emphasizing 'you'.

"That was amazing." He basically pants. He reaches around blindly until he found a shirt of his that I'd worn earlier to wipe the cum from his chest in neck. "And you didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to." I sigh. I actually wanted a lot more than that, but he was making me wait. "We can go to bed now." I chuckle.

A/N: An earlier update than I was planning, but I got a super nice message earlier and figured I'd put out a new chapter because of it :)


	6. Chapter 6

"You really need to go to work?" He sighs, leaning his body over the kitchen counter. Gertrude was off in the dining area dusting, and she'd every once in a while glance up and look between us.

"Uh, yeah." I chuckle. "I can't just not go to work." I tell him.

"You wouldn't have that job if it weren't for me." He states in a matter of fact kind of tone. When I glance up at him he's smirking at me, which soon turned into a wide grin.

"Excuse me?" I glower at him.

"Some day I'll tell you all about how long I've actually been planning for you to move out here." He smirks, I continue to glower at him. "It was I who suggested that Professor Galloway send you the application for an internship in the first place." He shrugs.

"How long have you been watching me?" I ask him, not really sure if I wanted to know the answer to it or not.

"Many years." He says simply.

"We're so talking about this later." I growl at him, slinging my purse over my shoulder. "See you tonight." I add before walking out the door to my truck. Today would be pretty uneventful, I had a bunch of data that I needed to enter into my laptop as well as a bunch of samples to take today. I'd do it all out in the woods, I was just more comfortable out there than in the office or at the warehouse. An hour or so later I was perched on an old stump in the woods, punching codes and info into my laptop. My phone was sitting next to me along with a bottle of pepsi.

"You must be Annabelle..." Someone says, walking up behind me. It wasn't a voice that I'd heard before, and it made me jump a little. A few seconds later a guy walks around the side of the stump. He was huge. Tall, he had to be around 7 feet, muscular and covered in tattoos, he also had long hair pulled back into a bun.

"Can I help you?" I ask him skeptically. Most people didn't exactly take strolls around the bogg so I was already in defense mode, even though both of us knew I wouldn't be able to force him off me if he tried anything.

"Huh, you are pretty." He shrugs. I narrow my eyes at him, my fingers wrapping around my phone. "You gotta come with me sweet heart." He tells me.

"Yeah, I don't think so." I shake my head, "Why don't you move along." I suggest to him.

"The centaurs were wrong... You're pretty feisty." He chuckles. I'm an instant panic. Who the fuck was this guy.

"Who are you?" I ask him, trying to keep my tone even.

"Baron (Corbin)." He answers simply. "So are you going to put up a fight...? Because I don't want to knock you out for this, but if I have to I will." He says to me, "Up to you." He adds with another shrug.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." I growl at him. "Finn isn't going to be happy when he hears about this." I say, trying to use him as my leverage point.

"That's what I'm counting on." He winks, grabbing my elbow and effortlessly pulling me up to my feet. I yank my arm, and try to wrench my elbow from his grip but it was pretty pointless. "Grab your shit." He tells me. I scramble to pick up my laptop, my keys and my soda. The soda may not life or death but hey, I wanted to drink that at some point. My eyes are wide as he pulls me through a portal, not the same one that Finn had brought me too which meant that they must be all over the forest and bog. We made an immediate right and walked down a narrow path and I skidded to a stop in front of a really, really dark cave. "Come on, princess." He mutters.

"I don't want to go in there." I shake my head in a soft tone.

"You don't get a choice." He mumbles, scooping me up and basically throwing me over his shoulders. He was ridiculously laid back, like he kidnapped women from the bogg all the time, it really threw me off.

"You're an asshole." I smack his back and kick my feet a couple times. I knew it wasn't going to work, so I didn't bother to continue. A few minutes later we walked out into a field, it was littered with what looked like huts.

"Got her." He calls to a group of men that were gathered around a fire. My mind starts racing, were they going to torture me, were they going to rape me, what do I need to be worried about here? Thankfully they don't really acknowledge me, but they all give a grunt or some kind of inaudible response to him. He tosses me down on a bed, "Listen." He starts, pointing a finger at me. "You have no idea where you are, you don't know what land your in, what portals to go through to get home, what kind of dangers you need to face to even get there, so take my advice and dont' do anything stupid." He makes a disgusted face as he wiped my sweat off his arm, when I got nervous I had a tendency to sweat really bad. "Gross." He comments.

"I'm not sure what you're hoping to accomplish by bringing me here. We're not even officially together, we haven't known each other long enough for me to mean anything to him." I say to Baron. He grins up at me, like everything I just said was the funniest thing he'd heard all day.

"He'll come for you." He chuckles. "You're his one promised, he'll go to the ends of the worlds to find you." He states, "Lucky for him you're not going to be that hard to find."

"This is stupid." I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Speaking of stupid... Like I said, don't do anything stupid." He repeats. "I'd hate to have to tie you up and throw you in a closet or something." He adds before walking out the door of the hut. I glance down at my phone, knowing that I had zero signal before my eyes wander out the window. I watched Baron wander out to the rest of the group, sitting down on a make shift chair. The blood drains from my face when two of the bigger men stand up, they were just as big as Baron. At first it just seemed as if they were running towards the woods but in a matter of seconds their bodies started to changed and the next thing I knew I was watching two massive wolves run across the rest of the field.

"I need to get out of here." I say to myself, frantically glancing at my phone again. My eyes darted around the hut but there wasn't anything in here that was going to do me any good. He was right, I was in a strange place and I had no idea how to get back home. All I could do was sit tight, hope they didn't kill me and wait for Finn to come for me... Hopefully he came for me.

***...***Meanwhile...***...***

It was nearly 10 at night when Finn decided to go over to Annabelle's and Kelly's. She'd failed to answer her phone all day, calls or texts and he didn't have Kellly's number. He was sure that she was fine when she left this morning. She'd given him no reason to think that anything was wrong between them.

"Finn." Kelly smiled when she answered, "Where's Annabelle?" She asks him, glancing around behind him. It was right then he knew something wasn't right.

"She hasn't been home?" He asks in a dangerous tone.

"Not since she left for your place last night." She shakes her head. "Is everything ok?" She asks.

"I'm sure she's fine." He offers a rigid smile. "I will go find her." He assures her, starting to turn around for his car once more.

"Hold on, you don't know where she is?" She basically shouted at him. He didn't blame her though, she was only concerned about her friend's well being.

"No Kelly, I don't." He shakes his head, "But it won't be a problem for me to find her." He adds. He changes his mind about the car, turning back to Kelly. "May I please come in?" He asks her.

"For what?" She asks him, her guard coming up. She also leaned her very petite frame against the door, as if it would stop him from barging in if he'd made that choice.

"Because it's late, and I'm hoping she's asleep where ever she's at. It will take me an hour to get back to my own home and longer to fall asleep. Do you want to help me find her or not?" He questions, raising his eyebrows at her. She takes a moment to think about that, but nods and swings the door open. "When I know something I'll come back down." He says to her, retreating up the steps to Annabelle's bedroom. He laid down in her bed, and willed sleep to come.

***...***...***...***

"Move over." He grumbles. I'd watched Baron rummage around the hut for the past hour. He'd offered me dinner, but I wasn't anywhere near hungry, and I definitely didn't trust anything that he was going to give me.

"What are you doing?" I ask him, narrowing my eyes at him as I scooted to the very edge of the bed.

"I'm going to sleep. You should think about it too." He suggests. "Unless you want to have sex or something." He adds, wagging his eyebrows.

"Not with you." I roll my own eyes in disgust.

"Please, Balor has nothin' on me." He chuckles. "Bet you've never been fucked by a wolf before." He smirks.

"Thank god..." I mumble.

"Suit yourself." He shrugs. "Night." He says, flipping over onto his side and pulling the covers up to his chin. I sigh deep, and lean my head against the wall, pulling my knees up to my chest to rest my chin on them. After a couple hours I finally dozed off...

"Where are you?" His voice startled me, and I glanced over to see Finn. He looked exasperated, along with several other mixed emotions. "You've been gone all day. I've called, I've texted and I'm worried." He says.

"I'm with your friend, Baron." I rebut. He narrows his eyes at me, and I can see him thinking the name through in his head. "Werewolf ring any bells?" I ask him after he couldn't figure out what I was talking about.

"Corbin..." He growls. He'd walked over to me at some point, "Are you with him?" He asks.

"Yes." I answer.

"Did he hurt you?" He asks. He was tense all over and his jaw made a few little twitches.

"No." I sigh. "He was fucking asshole, but a nice fucking asshole." I assure him. "Can you come fucking get me? I don't like not sleeping in my own bed and I don't really like being here either, and I freaking miss you." I tell him, making him smirk.

"I will come for you, my love." He nods, palming my face. "I was hoping you'd be sleeping." He adds, pressing a few quick kisses on my lips. "See you shortly."

A/N: So yeah, Baron Corbin is probably going to be a staple in the story but I don't think romantically in any way. With his lone wolf gimmick he was just an easy pick to bring in, plus I like him.


	7. Chapter 7

"Wake up, princess." Baron's gruff voice tells me, accompanied by a few shakes. My eyes flutter open and meet his, "Your boyfriend is here." He tells me, pulling me up onto my feet and dragging me out the door. Finn was standing across the field, his blue eyes almost glowing because of the black paint around his face. "Like I said, she's fine." Baron calls to him.

"Give her to me..." Finn growls. The grass around his feet was withering and had begun to smoke, "Or I'm going to torch this whole place." He adds.

"Well that would include your precious girlfriend." Baron shrugs simply. He didn't look the least bit scared of Finn, and I wondered if he was just good at hiding his fear or if he truly wasn't because he had all his little dog friends behind him.

"What do you want Corbin?" Finn asks him, lighting the grass in front of him. I watched as a string of flames began to creep closer and closer to where we were standing. I had to literally take a deep breath and remember what Finn had told me before. I was always safe when he was around.

"Passage on to your land." He replies.

"To what purpose?" Finn responds, tilting his head to the side. I let out a breath of relief when the flames stopped moving.

"That's my own business." He states. "There's a portal in your forest that has my interest."

"If that's your only desire than fine." Finn agrees easy enough. "But hear me when I tell you that if I catch you anywhere near my castle, my soldiers, my people or my woman ever again I won't think twice about killing you and the rest of your mutts."

"Whatever." He shrugs, shoving me forward.

"You're an asshole." I mutter, glancing back and Baron but starting to walk towards Finn.

"That's the sweetest thing a woman has ever said to me." He smirks, giving me a small wave. When I was close enough Finn reached out and took my hand. I blinked and we were literally standing in my bedroom. Black and red was dripping down his face as blue eyes scanned my body, looking for anything that might need attention.

"I'm fine." I assure him.

"You realize I'm never letting you out of my sigh again?" He mutters, shaking his head. I glower at him, and he holds my stare for a moment before smirking. "For long anyway." He winks.

"So who were they?" I ask him curiously. I cock a hip and cross my arms over my chest.

"The wolf pack. They have interest in the coastal land, which is odd. There's really nothing out there." He shrugs. "You're taking all of this rather well." He raises his eyebrows at me. "I wasn't joking when I said that I shouldn't be seeing you in person... Had I stayed away Baron wouldn't have known where to find you."

"Yeah well, I kept saying that you'd keep me safe over and over in my head." I reply honestly.

"And I did."

"And you did." I nod. "I trust you to not let anything happen." I finally say it out loud.

"You're ready." He smiles. "Come downstairs a moment, Kelly is hysterical." He tells me, and I chuckle. Of course she was.

"I'm fine..." I tell her when she wraps both arms around me. "Oh my god, what am I going to tell Professor Galloway? I just disappeared in the middle of my shift." I say, worried for my job.

"I took care of it. You're excused for the next few days." Finn responds. "I wasn't sure how long it would take me to find you." He admits with a shrug.

"Oh my god, I was in panic." Kelly tells me, "Thank god for him." She points to Finn.

"If we're talking real, it's his fault I was kidnapped in the first place... But, yeah. Thank god for him." I agree, glancing over my shoulder at him. "You can go to bed now." I laugh, seeing her yawn. It was day time still, but I"m sure they'd both been up worried about me. "Night." I smile, hugging her again. "I also, am tired." I turn to him.

"Go get some sleep my love, I must go home to my land and warn Barimere of what's just happened." He tells me. My face falls, and I sigh, swaying nervously on my feet. "Do you want to come?" He asks me, noticing.

"Yes." I nod. He takes my hand and again I blink, ending up in a different place. "If you were always able to do that thing you just did, why take me through the portals?" I ask him curiously.

"Because you need to see all that to understand the other worlds." He explains, "To understand who I am and where I come from. Right now I don't have time for that, so, welcome home." He motions to the giant room we were in. It was clearly a bedroom, and at least 3 times as big as the other one at his castle.

"Oh." I murmur. He laces our fingers and we enter a long hallway, after about three turns I have totally lost track of where we are or where we've been. I'm just kind of following behind him until we descend a stair case and it opens up into a large foyer like area. There are people running in every which direction until we appear. Everyone seems to just stop, and look our directions. Eyes glance from me, to Finn and back to me.

"As you were." He tells them, continuing on his route. "Balimere." He greets someone when he pushes open a heavy wooden door. THe room is filled with a handful of men, all were huge, all dressed in lose fitting pants and a woven chain like top. Whatever it was, it looked heavy as hell.

"Sir." He nods curtly, then glances at me. "Lady Annabelle, you're even more beautiful than he had described." He tells me. Finn glances over his shoulder at me, probably trying to figure out what my response would be to that.

"Thank you." I smile at him. Honestly I just didn't know what else I should say, not like I could come back with something Finn had said about any of them.

"This is Balimere." Finn introduces me. Balimere was a pretty big guy, over 6 feet tall, ridiculous black beard and he was littered with war scars along his arms and even on his face. "Balimere, we seem to have a raising issue with the wolves." He tells him.

"They haven't been in our land, sir." He replies, furrowing his brow.

"The water land through the cave portal, has their interest." Finn says. "I want to know what's in there, what they want and why." He states.

"I'll send some men through." He agrees quickly. "As soon as possible." He adds. Finn nods, agreeing with him. "Will you be staying this time, sir?" He questions, almost hopefully. I couldn't imagine the stress that Balimere had to be under trying to keep everything under control while Finn was gone.

"I'm not sure." He answers, glancing at me. "I think I"ll show Annabelle around the castle and the grounds though. As you were men, thank you." He tells them, excusing us from the room. It was literally like stepping into a Lord of the Ring's movie. The clothing was nearly exact, the castle, the soldiers, the look in general, it was absolutely crazy to me. "Are you hungry, my love?" He questions.

"I'm starving." I answered, realizing that I hadn't eaten in nearly two days. Yeah, Baron had offered me dinner that day but I'd refused because I didn't trust him.

"Let's go to the kitchen then." He smiles, leading us down another hallway. "What is on the stove Ellena?" He asks one of the women in the kitchen. There was also another younger girl in there along with two men kneading dough.

"Master Balor." She greets him, "There's a beef stew or a chicken curry with wild rice." She responds. "If neither sound appealing it'd be no problem to make you or Lady Annabelle something." It was really weird to me that all these people already knew who I was before I'd met any of them. Finn looks at me expectantly.

"Oh, you don't need to make anything Ellena." I say remembering her name, "Chicken curry and rice sounds amazing." I smile.

"She's very sweet." She says approvingly to Finn, who nodded. "I will bring it out to you, are you hungry as well?" She asks Finn.

"I'll have the same." He tells her. We walk out into another huge room, full of long tables with chairs along the sides. "Are you overwhelmed?" He asks me, pulling out a chair for me to sit down.

"I am not." I admit honestly. "But I've only been here an hour." I chuckle. "The only thing weird to me that's standing out... How do all these people already know who I am?" I ask him when he'd say down next to me. He stares at me a moment, trying to decide how to answer that question. "Tell me the truth."

"I've spoken quite a bit about you, for a while." He says.

"How long have you been watching me, you stalker." I ask him, making a teasing comment at the end. He's uncomfortable again, "You've going to have to tell me junk eventually." I sigh.

"Since you were 16." He answers. My mouth drops open, and I don't reply right away. Ellena walks between us and sets down the plates, suddenly I'm just not that hungry anymore. "My soul lead me to you." He tries to explain.

"You said you found me in dreams." I narrow my eyes at him.

"I did. Just because I didn't approach you in your dreams, doesn't mean I wasn't still there." He says. "I didn't want to panic, or scare you before I had the chance to meet you in person. I knew that I would have to wait a long time before anything would even happen between us, and I wanted to time everything perfectly."

"Now I'm a little freaked out." I admit.

"I thought you might be." He sighs. We sit in silence for a moment, and I push around the food on my plate, and even take a bite because I wasn't trying to be rude to Ellena's cooking. "By the way, I did the math... In years on Earth, I am 34 years old." He says with a half smile, trying to lighten the mood. I smirk, and let out a little chuckle. "There's that pretty smile. So to answer your question, I've known for a very long time that you were the only woman for me, and I may or may not have bragged a little bit to everyone."

"I'm still freaked out." I murmur, taking another bite. It was good, like I couldn't even lie about that.

"I'm sorry, my love." He sighs.

"What is the ultimate goal in all of this?" I ask him. Honestly I wasn't sure that I wanted to know the answer to that.

"You're not ready to hear it." He tells me, fidgeting nervously.

"Is it bad?"

"I hope you don't think so." He answers. "When you're ready, I'll know and I will tell you. I promise, but right now lets just agree my goal is to be with you."

"Fine." I grumble. We sit in silence, and he lets me eat in peace. "This is very good Ellena." I call to her, I could see her wandering about in the kitchen through the big wooden door.

"Thank you lady Annabelle." She smiles.

"That's going to take getting used to. Lady Annabelle?" I make a face at him, making him chuckle.

"It's the respectful way to speak to someone of higher status." He says.

"Oh..." I murmur.

"Would you like to look around?" He asks me.

"Yes." I agree.

"Walk with me." He grins, taking my hand. "Thank you Ellena." He says back to her before walking back out into the larger foyer area. He pushes open the front door and we walk outside. Out in the distance past the land the castle say on you could see the homes that littered around it, and past those the village was surrounded by a large, tall stone wall. We walk around the side of the castle and down the path to a stable. I don't know if I've mentioned my love for horses. If I was able to have one, I would but with my internship and the moving like it just wasn't possible for me right now but I grew up riding. It's in my blood. "The stables, has over 100 horses." He states. I walk up to a stall that has a huge, thick black horse in it. The horse had stuck his head out of the stall and without a second thought I wrapped my arms around his neck. I couldn't help but chuckle when i felt him put pressure against my back, almost like he was hugging me back.

"Hello sweet boy." I murmur, pulling back and scratching under his head. He lets out a soft knicker and brushes his upper lip over my shoulder.

"I've never seen him so affectionate with anyone." Finn states, watching us with an amused expression. "Even me." He adds.

"He's yours?" I ask him, rubbing his big giant head. He laid it right against my chest.

"He is. His name is Calhoun. It means warrior." He tells me. "Calhoun has never let me down in battle." He says. I make a face, as an animal lover I didn't like to hear about animals being used in wars or anything like that. Don't get me wrong, I get why it's done, I just didn't like to see animals die for any reason.

"You're so handsome." I tell Calhoun, who seemed to understand exactly what I was saying. "So handsome..." I murmur. I press a few kisses along his forehead, moving his mane to the side.

"I'm handsome as well." Finn pouts playfully.

"You are handsome." I smirk at him. "When do I get one?" I ask him. I look up at him with big green eyes from under my eyelashes, only to see him grin.

"What makes you think you don't already?" He raises his eyebrows.

"Really!?" I grin.

"The grey one behind you, begging for your attention." He nods to him. "His name is Dillon, it means faithful. He's waited a long time to meet you."

"When you say stuff like that it's overwhelms and freaks me out again." I tell him honestly as I approached Dillon. He extended his neck and his nose brushed across my face. "Hello pretty boy." I greet him.

"I'm sorry." He tells me. "He's your caomhnoir. Your guardian." He explains. "We'll go for a ride next time."

"I miss riding." I sigh, wrapping my arms around Dillon's nose.

"You're a very good rider." He smiles. Of course he'd know that. "Would you like to meet your dragon?" He asks. I almost choke on my own breath, it makes Dillon perk his ears and give me a sideways glance. "Are you alright?"

"Did you say dragon?" I question, wide eyed.

"Yes." He nods nonchalantly. He nods towards the doors and I follow behind him.

"I'd have been happy with a puppy..." I murmur, walking along behind him. He glances back at me, a smirk evident on his face.

"I'll get you one of those too if you wish." He shrugs with a chuckle. I roll my eyes and step into the gated area and he pulls the gate shut behind me. "I may have been jumping the gun so to speak when I said meet your dragon..." He murmurs when we enter a room that was filled with multi colored, extremely large eggs. Not like rainbow colors, but there was whites, creamy colors, brown, black ect...

"I'm lost." I sigh.

"One of these eggs holds your dragon." He explains, "A dragon doesn't hatch until it senses that their bonded is close by. He or she will only listen to your commands, will only fly for you..."

"How do I know which one it is?" I ask him. He grins and in my peripheral vision I see him running his fingers over one of the eggs.

"You'll figure it out." He tells me, "On a day that you're here for a little bit and can sit with them. Until then, I should probably get you back home." He sighs.

"How old are you here?" I ask him, grabbing his shirt sleeve and pulling him to look at me.

"637 years." He answers swiftly.

"Oh." I choked out. I seem to say 'oh' a lot around him. That was my go to word when I didn't know what else to say.

"Time stands nearly still here, right now you are indeed aging but not near as fast as you age on Earth." He tells me. I tilt my head, I was a little confused. "It's not going to make sense. That's just how our world turns." He shrugs.

"Alright." I sigh. "I'm tired, can we go home?" I ask him, lacing my fingers into his own. He transported us back to his castle in Ireland.

"Did you like it?" He asks, pulling off his shirt. My eyes locked onto his chest, why did he have to pull off his shirt and tease me like this. It was already taking every ounce of self control I had to not jump his bones. "Do you like this?" He teases me more, glancing down at himself.

"That's not fair." I grumble at him. "And yes, to both questions."

"It's extremely important to me that you're comfortable in both worlds." He says, slipping both hands across my waist.

"Uhm..." I murmur, letting my own hands slide up his chest. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for whatever I was about to ask. "What do you mean when you say we need to establish ourselves in your world?" I question.

"Marriage." He answers simply. My jaw drops, "It won't happen too soon, I promise." He says when I don't respond.

"You know you have to meet my family way before marriage right?" I ask him.

"I see no problem with that." He agrees easily.

"Really? That easy?" I question, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Really that easy." He nods, "I'd love to finally meet your parents. Perhaps I could convince your father to take me fishing." He states and I laugh out loud.

"You can't be like this to my family... You've got to pretend that we just met in Ireland. None of the creepy watching you stuff." I say seriously.

"I understand." He replies.

"Finn, I'm serious... My daddy'll legit kill you if you say you've been watching his baby girl since she was 16." I point an accusing finger at him. He smiles, and pulls me against him by that same finger.

"I get it. We met in Ireland, through your internship." He says softly, "And I just couldn't stay away." He winks and I grin.

"That's a good story."

A/N: First off, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out on some smutty goodness... So maybe expect that soon lol. So I probably wouldn't expect an update from me now for a couple weeks. I'm going on vacation this week to visit family and I'll be honest when I say I have zero intentions of working on my stories while I"m with them. Sorry, look me up in a couple weeks! Love y'all! :)


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you feeling awkward?" He asks me. We were in his land at his castle for the next couple days. Something about he'd been gone for a long time and he has things that he needed to tend to out here.

"Not really." I shrug, "Besides being dressed totally differently than everyone else and the lady Annabelle thing..." I add with another shrug.

"You'll get used to it Lady Annabelle." He teases me. "If the clothes bother you I'm sure Daelynn would find you something else to wear." He suggests. Daelynn was one of the nurses, she was also supposed to be helping me out with anything I needed. For the record I've made sure to not need anything yet, because I don't like the idea of having 'staff' or being waited on.

"I'm alright." I insist. "What are you doing today?" I ask him, running my fingers down his arm.

"I'm going with Barimere to the costal land, I'll probably be gone all day..." He tells me and my face falls. I just didn't like not being around him anymore, it almost made sense now, this whole souls needing to be together crap. Because sometimes it literally hurt inside my chest when he wasn't around and I wanted him there. "I'll make it up to you tonight." He murmurs, tilting my chin to look at him.

"I'm going to hold you to that." I smirk.

"Help yourself to anything you want... But don't leave the grounds." He warns me. "With the possibility of wolves running around I don't want to take the risk of losing you again." He says.

"Alright..." I sigh.

So an hour later I was wandering around the castle, I wandered my way out to the dragon eggs. Figuring I'd just sit out there and hope my little minion hatched. Coolest shit ever. I looked over all of them. Finn was right, I was drawn to one in particular. It was a deep brownish color and I sat down next to it, running my fingers over the shell. With a sigh I lean my head against the shell, closing my eyes. I was kind of tired. I must've fallen asleep because when I woke up next the sun was setting. There was a weird sensation in my lap and I glanced down at it. I'm not sure you guys know, but dragons are absolutely adorable when they're babies. My little monster had hatched at some point and was curled up in a little ball in my lap. He stirred after a few seconds and big deep green eyes stared up at me.

"Oh my god. You're too fuckin' cute." I breath, scratching under his chin which he seemed to really enjoy. "So what's your name?" I wonder to myself. He was a dark mocha brown color with smooth scaley like skin. "I know they're partial to the Gaelic names here but I think Gannicus fits you." He backs up off my lap, leaving both his front feet on my knee. "What do you think? Is Gannicus good?" I ask him. In response he crawls back into my lap, sticking his head under my chin and resting it there. "Now what do I do with you?" I wonder to myself, glancing around.

"I wondered if I may find you here." Finn comments from the door way. He was leant up against the door frame, both arms crossed over his chest and looking way too amused. "Have you named him or her?" He questions.

"His name is Gannicus." I tell him.

"Greek." He comments, raising his eyebrows.

"Is that a problem?" I challenge him.

"He's your dragon, you may name him what you wish." He chuckles. "Come, lets put him in the nursery." He tells me, nodding his head towards the outside. I pick up Gannicus, his wings fold along his back and he snuggles his body against my stomach as we walked. "He is already quite fond of you."

"He's a cuddler. You're sure he can't just sleep in bed with us?" I ask with my best pouty face.

"Absolutely not." He smirks. "A dog in bed in one thing, a dragon is another." He tells me, shaking his head.

"Fine..." I sigh, following him into the nursery.

***...***...***

"You're sure you're ok with staying here tonight?" Finn asks for the millionth time tonight. For some reason he didn't think I would be comfortable staying over night here. Honestly, if I was with him where I slept really made zero difference to me.

"Yes, stop asking." I growl at him, making him smirk. Almost as if to shut me up he intentionally pulls his shirt off, slower than he usually does, before tossing it over his shoulder. "You're such a tease. Worse than any woman." I tell him and he laughs.

"Am I a tease if I plan on giving it to you tonight?" He asks me and I raise my eyebrows.

"Stop..." I murmur, running a finger down his arm.

"Why would I stop?" He murmurs back, looking up at me with those stunning blue eyes of his. "Do you want me to stop?" He questions curiously. Even though he already knew the answer to that.

"No..." I sigh.

"Sex makes my bond to you, my need for you permanent." He tells me. "It's why I never gave it to you when I visited your dreams. If all of this would have been too much for you and you ran, I wouldn't have been able to bare the loss." He admits.

"I'm not leaving." I state, looking serious.

"I know." He agrees. He crawls up the length of the bed and his fingers trail up the skin under my shirt, before he easily pulls it up over my head. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on." He murmurs, running his thumb along the curve under my breast. I palm his face and lean into him, pressing my lips to his. He pulls my body against his by my hip before his hand wanders down and cups a butt cheek. My own hands travel down his chest before I slip my finger under his calvin kliens, running it over his skin and making him shudder. He gently pushes me over onto my back, putting himself between my legs as his lips travel down my neck, over my collar bone and down the valley of my breasts. "Do you trust me?" He asks, even though he had to know the answer already. His fingers were hooked on each side of my panties.

"You know I do." I said softly, biting my bottom lip. I lifted my butt just enough for him to easily slip them down my legs and off. I was already wet for him, just seeing him shirtless did that too me. He gauged my reaction as he slowly and teasingly pushed two fingers inside of me, and circled my clit with his thumb. My head rolled back into the bed and my back arched up. His lips trailed from the inside of one thigh, over my wetness, to the other thigh before his tongue ravaged my core. "Oh, god..." I groan, grinding against him. This part never got old, he was just fucking good at it. My fingers had slipped down and through his short hair as his tongue skillfully worked my clit. It took no time at all for me to reach my first oragsm. My eyes basically rolled back into my head, and I screamed his name while I shook from the intensity of it.

He crawled up the length of my body and I was literally rolling myself against him in anticipation. His fingers stroked through the length of my hair and he looked down at me before leaving a light kiss on my forehead. I pushed his shorts down his legs and the rest of the way off with my feet. I could feel his length against my side. His head dips into the crook of my neck and he peppers the skin with kisses and his positions himself at my entrance. He locked his eyes with mine as he sheathed himself inside me, the sheer width of him making my mouth open in shock. I imagine I looked somewhat fish like. We laid there skin to skin for at least a full minute, him letting me get used to the intrusion in my body.

"Good god... Please move." I beg him. He chuckles and pulls nearly all the way out before slowly, painfully slowly pushing back in. And again. And again. I got impatient to the point where I brought my hips up to meet his movements and I felt him smile against my neck. I'd ignored the humming sound that was coming from his chest up until this point, only because it was now rumbling through my own body. "Are you purring?" I question him, pulling my head back to look at him. He looked slightly ashamed and I realized I may have embarrassed him. "Don't be ashamed, I kinda like it." I tell him. It was like a happy rumble, and the sound made me feel even more at ease with him if were possible.

"Mine..." He whispers against my ear, before taking the lobe between his teeth and giving it a bite. That right there nearly sent me over the edge again. His pace had increased and he was pumping into me at a steady drummer pace.

"Yours." I confirm, encouraging his movements. He angled himself lower, snapping his hips into my own. Each time our skin met his would hit my clit, giving it just enough stimulation to send me into another orgasm a moment later. I wrapped my legs around him, holding him flush against me as I came over his length, my walls pulsing around him and making him groan into my neck. It didn't take long after that for him to growl into my neck with his own release. He had his weight held up on his elbows above me as he pressed his lips against mine. Soft, short kisses. He collapsed on the bed next to me a few seconds later, pulling me flush against his side and never breaking our skin contact.

"Was it as good as you hoped?" He questions between breaths. His chest was heaving, trying to catch his breath and his eyes were closed. My fingers were on his stomach again, running over his now slick and sweaty muscles.

"It was so much better." I admit. I lean up and press kisses along his jaw, making him smile.

***...***...***

"You've got another date tonight?" I ask Kelly with raised eyebrows. She was in her closet and I watched her pull out a shorter silver dress that she only ever wore out dancing.

"I'm going dancing with a guy tonight." She smirks. A handful of her blonde locks had fallen in front of her face as she bent over to pick up a pair of sky high black heels. "His name is Chris." She smiles.

"What happened to the other guy?" I ask curiously.

"I don't know." She shrugs. "I had a nice time with him, I just wasn't that interested afterwards. So I stopped answering his texts." She says simply.

"You're such a horrible person." I laugh, shaking my head.

"What?!" She laughs with me. "Don't tell me you've never done it before!" She points an accusing finger at me.

"A few times." I admit with a shrug. "We can be horrible people together." I grin cheekily.

"Speaking of guys... Where's yours?" She asks, walking out of the closet.

"He's with Professor Galloway, in a meeting with some people from Iceland. With any luck I'll be in Iceland next week doing some work. How cool is that?" I grin.

"It's supposed to be gorgeous there." She agrees. "I'm going to hop a shower." She murmurs, grabbing a towel from out closet. I make my way down to the kitchen and pull open the fridge door, seeing if anything looked good inside. With a sigh I shut it again, leaning over the counter and looking out our back sliding glass door. For a split second I could have sworn I saw Baron out in the trees, but when my eyes went back to that spot there was nothing. I shook my head, walked over to the door and locked it, just in case before sitting down on the couch.

"When are you done?" Text to Finn.

Impatient much? Yes I was.

"Shortly love. Put something nice on for dinner, I'll pick you up." Text from Finn.

I grin at that message. All my life all I wanted was a guy that genuinely wanted to spend time and be with me. One of those guys that says "Don't worry I'll take care of it", "Get dressed we're going out", buys you flowers just because.

"Ok." Text to Finn.

I take one more glance out the back door before retreating back up the steps to my bedroom. "Hey lock the door behind you when you leave." I tell Kelly, before she left later.

"I will." She agrees. "See you later!" I hear her call before the door closes.

***...***...***

"So don't get mad..." I murmur, looking up at Finn from under my lashes.

"What's wrong?" He questions. We were seated out on the patio of one of the very few seafood restaurants in Dublin.

"Nothing is wrong." i assure him. "I just... I don't want to freak you out-"

"Spit it out Annabelle." He shakes his head. "Nothing you can say will freak me out." He assures me.

"I think I saw Baron in the woods behind my house earlier." I finally tell him. His jaw sets. "But I could have just imagined it. I mean it was kind of just at a glance when I happened to look out, then when I looked again there wasn't anything there. Like I could be totally wrong... But I didn't want to not tell you and something happen and then find out I should have told you." I start to ramble.

"I'm glad you told me. I'll keep my eye out for him." He nods curtly.

"My eyes were probably playing tricks on me." I shrug.

"Don't worry about it." He smiles, running his fingers over the top of my hand.

A/N: I think I'll introduce another fun but aggressive character soon. Yes. Yes I'll do that. Just to shake things up. Lol


	9. Chapter 9

"Why the dirty face?" Finn asks, sliding his hand across my lower back. We were at the office, out here in the middle of no where-ville getting some paperwork signed for me to go to Iceland for a few days.

"I don't like the way the secratary talks to you. Or looks at you." I shrug, glowering at her even though she wasn't looking at me. He smirks, pushing some of my hair behind my shoulder before pressing his lips to my temple.

"Just as you are mine, I am yours." He assures me. "Pay no mind to other women. Most days I don't even see them." He says.

"I know..." I sigh. "The dirty face is because she knows you're mine and she flirts anyway. Why do women do that?" I ask myself mostly but he nods his head in agreement.

"Iceland is another place with many portals." He smiles, whispering that little detail in my ear. I raise my eyebrows at him. "Known for their monsters." (A/N: I made that up lol)

"Oh, great." I reply sarcastically. I finish signing the rest of the paperwork and head out the door with Finn, sliding into the passenger seat of his car.

"I have another meeting in Dublin to go to, do you want to come with me?" He offers as we drove.

"I don't." I shake my head honestly. "Your meetings are so boring." I tell him and he chuckles, nodding his head. "Just drop me off at my house, I have a crazy amount of laundry to do." I grumble.

"Ok." He agrees. We pull up to my house about 15minutes later, "I'll see you tonight then." He smiles, palming my face and kissing me.

"Tonight." I agree with a smile. "Drive safe." I say like I always do before pushing myself out of the car and shutting the door behind me. I push open my front door and lock it again behind me, dumping my purse onto the reclining chair and walking into the kitchen. Laundry could wait a few more minutes.

"Can I ask you something?" A familiar voice says behind me. I jump and spin around. Baron was at a chair at my kitchen table, which by the way never ever got used. "Don't worry princess, I ain't here to kidnap you." He chuckles at my wide eyed expression.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! You can't just let yourself into people's houses!" I snap at him.

"Well I did." He shrugs simply. "Why are you with him? Why would you associate yourself with such a horrible person?" he asks me, then scoffs, "Shit, he ain't even a person. He's something else."

"He's never been horrible to me." I narrow my eyes at him.

"And he won't. Ever. You can be cruel but never to your woman." He nods. "Do you know what he's done? The things that he's done to other lands that surround his? To people, animals and creatures that threaten him or step foot on his land?" He asks. I'm silent, just staring at him. "I only spent one day with you and I know that you're a sweet, kind hearted woman. Why you would associate yourself with such a sadistic, mean and cruel being is what confuses me." He sighs.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I finally manage to respond.

"Of course you don't." He chuckles. "He'd never let you see what happens below the castle or in the torture rooms or the briggs." He states, standing up from the kitchen counter. "He's blinded you to only see what he wants you to see because he knows that if you saw who he truely was, you'd run." He states simply.

"That's bullshit." I mutter, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms over my chest. I back up against the fridge when Baron walks right up to the kitchen counter, pulling his shirt off and setting it aside.

"Yeah? Is this bullshit?" He asks me, pointing to a long jagged looking scar that crossed over his ribs on his left side. "Or this?" He points to what looks like a series of burns maybe, but it was covered by his chest tattoo. "All marks your boyfriend has given me, and that's only two of them, and that's only me." He states, backing up a step.

"Why?" I ask, biting my bottom lip.

"Because I was caught on his land, trying to find food for my pack. It's a rough world out there princess. Y'all got it easy on Earth." He sighs. There was almost a saddness laced in his voice. "I just think you should know the type of person that you're giving yourself to so willingly." He shrugs, heading for my sliding glass door. "See ya around, princess." He states, disappearing outside. I stood there, for what seemed like forever in just shock, thinking about everything that he'd just said to me. Would Finn really do all the things Baron had said? Part of me had to believe it. The way Finn had so easily threatened to burn Baron's home and land that day that he kidnapped me. Not only that but his ancestry holds nothing but evil.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Kelly asks, walking into the kitchen.

"Nothing." I shrug. I hadn't even heard her come in.

"You're such a horrible liar." She chuckles.

"Do you think I've made a mistake, being with Finn?" I ask her seriously.

"Of course not." She scoffs, shaking her head. "Why? What brought this on?" She questions, furrowing her brows.

"What if he's done horrible things? He has told me in the past that he's the bad guy... Times where he lives are way different. What if he hurts people? Kills people? Tortures people?" I ask her, biting hard on my bottom lip.

"Holy shit. Where is this coming?" She asks me.

"I just talked to someone who knows Finn, probably a lot better than I do." I sigh. "All of it is a whole new can of worms that I didn't even think about. Junk that could have possibly waivered my decision of being with him." I tell her honestly.

"I think you're jumping to conclusions." She says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "And who ever you just talked to put you into this panic mode." She states. "Why don't you ask Finn about it later?"

"No." I shake my head quickly. "First off he'd be livid that I didn't call him right away after talking to Baron. Second he'd be livid that Baron was in my kitchen when I got home and he'd probably go after him. Third I'm not sure he'd tell me the truth about that kind of stuff anyway. He's already given me the 'you're not ready to hear' it excuses with pretty much every other question I asked. I'll find out myself." I tell her.

"That sounds like a really, super bad idea." She chuckles, shaking her head. "And why didn't you call him right away after Baron was here? What if he'd have taken you again!?" She exclaims.

"I don't feel like Baron wants to hurt me." I answer honestly. "I think they only reason he took me was because there's something he needs from this other world to survive. He didn't do it to start beef. He's so ridculously easy going that it's impossible to feel threatened by him."

"I don't know... I mean, it still sounds sketchy to me." She purses her lips.

"Don't you dare say anything to him about Baron or any of this." I narrow my eyes at her.

"Please, I'm your best friend." She scoffs, hooking her pinky in my own. Part of me felt really bad for thinking about sneaking around behind his back, but the other part didn't because I knew he'd never tell me the truth. Right away at least.

***...***...***

"I don't like that I'm not going with you to Iceland in a few days." He sighs. He'd come over around dinner time. I only glance at him, offer a smile and go back to shredding my chicken off the bone. I was making chicken enchaladas, and I prefered the chicken shredded instead of chunked. "What's wrong, my love?" He murmurs, pressing his forehead against my temple.

"Nothing, I'm fine." I tell him, pressing my lips against his nose quick. I was trying to seem like nothing was bothering me, but all I could think about was what Baron had told me earlier.

"You're lying." He comments, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm not." I shake my head. "I might be a little tired tonight." I shrug as an explination. He purses his lips, but doesn't push anymore about it. "Are you hungry?" I ask him trying to change the subject.

"I am starving, and the kitchen smells lovely." He smiles. "Don't ever tell Ellena that you're cooking rivals against hers." He grins cheekily. That made me smile, like a legitamate smile. He did know just the right things to say sometimes. I still felt strongly about him, dare I say I might love him because he was an amazing guy especially to me, but if what Baron had told me turns out to be true then either changes needed to be made around there or I'll have to leave. There's no way I could live in a place and be supportive of tourting or killing of anything.

"I'll keep your secret." I chuckle. I dump the chicken into the sauce mixture that I'd made up earlier and hand it to him, "Stir this up for me, please." I tell him. I pull out the tortillas that were warming in the oven and my pan before filling them with cheese, followed by the chicken and sauce mixture from the bowl.

"How long does it take to cook?" He questions, watching me sprinkle the top with cheese and put it into the oven. "Where's Kelly?"

"Like 20 minutes." I shrug. "She went out with this Chris guy. I'm a little surprised that she gave him a second date." I chuckle, glancing up at him leaning against the counter across from me. I let my hands slide along his hips, pulling him up against me. He leans down and presses his lips against mine, before traveling lower to my jaw and my neck. "Mmmmm..." I groan, fisting his shirt in my hands. His own travel along my body, feeling even inch they could.

"I can do 20 minutes." He murmurs with a hint of a smirk. He backs me up against the fridge, pressing himself flush against me. I could feel his length, hard, rubbing against my hip. His fingers tangle into my hair as he kissed me again, this time with more urgency. My own hands found his pants button and zipper and I release him, taking him into my hand and stroking his length. There was something about nitty, gritty, urgent sex that turned me on. He growled into our kiss, his own free hand groping one of my breasts and tweaking the nipple through my shirt.

"Finn..." I sigh, arching into him. He lets his fingers out of my hair and takes himself from me, and earning a huff of protest from my lips. His other hand continues traveling down my body and around the back of my thigh, lifting it up. At the same time he slinks down a few inches, moves my panties off to the side and when he lifts back up he easily thrusts into me, making both of us let out a satisfied moan. He pulled out to the tip before sliding his length back inside me, repeating it that way several times. "H-harder..." I manage to tell him. One of my arms was wrapped around his neck, helping to hold me up while my other hand was gripping his bicep.

"You want it harder?" He smirks, pressing his forehead against my own. He pulls out, slowly and I glower at him.

"That wasn't nice." I chuckle, shaking my head in disbelief. He pulled me away from the fridge, and guides me out just past our kitchen to the front of the closet door. It had a full sized mirror on it and I looked at him in confusion through the reflection.

"Put your hands on the mirror." He murmurs, placing both of my hands in front of me on the mirror and bending me over just slightly. His hand grips a butt cheek as he reenters me from behind. I close my eyes and hang my head slightly, pushing back to meet his movements. With a hand still on my hip his other snakes itself into my hair, pulling my head back so I'm looking back into the mirror. "I want ya to watch." He tells me. I feel a little weird but do as he says, watching as our bodies collide against each other over and over. "Remember what this looks like, because no one can give this to you like I can." He murmurs. He reaches around and his fingers find my clit. I was already ridiculously turned on and I took me no time at all to scream out his name as i came on his length.

"Oh... God..." I groan, pressing my forehead against the mirror. I was having a hard time holding myself up after that. A few moments later, his grip on my hips tighten and I feel himself pour into me. We hold our position, and he leaves soft, gentle kisses along my spine, reminding me of how gentle he usually was. "I think dinner is done." I sigh, making him chuckle.

"Perfect timing." He says, kissing my shoulder and pulling me upright. "I didn't scare you, did I?" He questions, pointing to the mirror.

"Not at all." I smirk, wiping away the sweat from my forehead. "Gross..." I grumble, excusing myself the to the bathroom to clean myself up a little bit.

"What would you like to drink?" He calls from the kitchen.

"Beer is fine." I answer, walking out of the bathroom. I make us each up a plate and we sit down on the couch to eat.

"This is very good." He mumbles with a mouthful of food.

"Thank you." I kick my feet up onto the coffee table and take a sip of my beer.

"You'll call me if anything happens in Iceland, right?" he questions, giving me a sideways glance.

"Nothing is going to happen in Iceland." I assure him.

"You don't know that." He states.

"If anything happens, I will call you." I agree. I agree just to get him to shut up.

"Thank you." He smiles. "I can still go with you if you want." he suggests.

"I'll be gone for one day." I chuckle, "It's only a day, I will be fine, you will be fine." I assure him, running my fingers over his thigh.

"You're right." He finally nods.

A/N: Fun to write this chapter. Taking a little bit of a turn into the darker world of Finn Balor, because we know the Demon can't be rainbows and flowers forever, right?


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I celebration of the fact that tonight Finn saw and acknowledged me at NXT, I'm updating early. Enjoy and excuse me while I fangirl on. Lol :)

"You want to do what?" Kelly asks me, her eyes the size of golfballs. So I'd convinced Finn to let me bring Kelly for the weekend to his castle on the other side of the portal, because he was going to be busy during the day and I told him I didn't want to be lonely. Really, I just needed a partner in crime. You should never do bad things alone.

"I want to know." I insist. Finn walks into the bedroom about that time and we both get quiet, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Did I walk in on a girly conversation?" He chuckles, walking over and kissing me.

"Maybe." I smirk at him.

"I'll be gone until dinner time." He informs me, "Don't leave our land." He tells me, I took a mental note of the fact that this was the first time he'd referred to it as 'our' land. "Perhaps Kelly would like to go on a ride?" he suggests, glancing at her.

"Maybe." I repeat with a shrug. "See you later" I pull him down to kiss me one more time.

"Later." He agrees before walking back out the door.

"Ugh, this is a bad idea." Kelly shakes her head.

"I want to know if there's another side to this castle and I'm going to fucking find out. Are you going to help me or not?" I ask her, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Of course I am." She replies as if it was a dumb question. "Where do we even start?" She questions.

"I have no idea." I chuckle. "I'm going to take a wild guess though and say that we need to look around outside, because I don't think he'd tell me to help myself to anything in the castle if there was the chance I'd find something bad." I shrug.

"That's a valid point." She agrees. "Ok, so lets go outside then. How are we going to not look suspicious?" She wonders.

"We're going to go grab Gannicus out of the nursery, and Dillon out of the stables and walk around the grounds. No one will say anything, they'll just assume we're goofing around." I tell her. I'd already thought about that earlier. Now it was time to put my not so master plan into action.

"He's beautiful." She comments, running a hand over Dillon's back. He was plotting along next to us while Gannicus was running ahead of us in zigzags. Every once in a while he'd glance back, to make sure we were still there. "He's funny." She chuckles.

"Isn't he fuckin' cute?" I grin at her.

"Where'd he go?" She questions, looking up into the woods.

"We can't go in there... Finn will legit freak out." I murmur. "Gannicus!" I call out to him. I could hear him rustling around in there, "Wait here." I say to Kelly, taking a couple steps into the woods. "Gannicus, get your butt over here." I grumble at the little dragon, pointing to the ground in front of me. He was standing in front of what I would call an out house, looking curiously at it.

"Are you ok?" Kelly whispers.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second." I assure her, pulling open the door to the little shack slowly. I pick up Gannicus before peering inside. It was pretty empty with the exception of the stair case that lead down into the ground. "There's like this weird little shack in there, and a stair case leading down." I say to kelly, emerging from the trees.

"And you want to know where it goes..." She says unsurely.

"I do. Really bad." I nod agreement. You know the saying curiosity killed the cat? Generally, I was that cat.

"You're about to go break his rules, is that a bad idea?" She questions.

"Only if we get caught." I tell her. "Then yeah, it was probably a really bad idea." I agree, glancing down at Gannicus. He was looking up at me with those big hazel eyes before glancing back into the woods. "Who loves you?" I ask him, and he snuggles up under my chin. "Yes, yes I do." I agree.

"Oh god..." She mumbles as we walked to take Dillon and Gannicus back to their homes.

"So I feel like we should hop into the woods right here, so no one sees us. I feel like if we walk in back over there someone could see and rat me out. Finn would be pissed." I comment. She only nods, and pushes me forwards into the trees. "We've got a good four or five hours before Finn gets back, so lets only take a couple just to be safe." I whisper, pulling open the door.

"You first." She states, looking uneasily at the stairs. We take them step by step until we were at the bottom, it really wasn't that far down only two stories probably. "Should we be worried that it's not like, guarded?" She questions. We both jump to the side behind a couple barrels when a big guy, that I recognize from the castle, walks down the steps and through the arch. "Scratch that." She grumbles and I nod.

"Come on." I whisper, pulling her through the arch behind me. It was just a hallway, it looked like what a secured area of a jail would look like, just metal rods and wood. The doors were heavy, wooden with a sliding door opening where I supposed you'd slide food in or something. I wasn't convinced just yet, because every place needs a jail and if that's all this is then that's fine. I push open another door when I hear foot steps walking up on us, and quietly shut it behind us. It was a big open room, there was nothing in it with the exception of two hanging noose like ropes.

"That's creepy." She comments, shoving me at another door that we basically fell through. "That one was close." She says as feet walked past where we had fallen. "If I tell you we should turn around now, would you? I hate the dark..." She mutters.

"We're not turning around yet. I don't like dark either." I grumble. It was nearly pitch black around us right now, and I pulled out my phone hitting the flash light button to guide us down the really narrow hallway. "We're never going to make it out of here without getting lost." I tell her.

"We're going to get in trouble." She chuckles nervously.

"Shut up." I tell her, pushing open a sliding door. I'm immediately met with the metallic smell of blood, followed by a dripping sound.

"Oh shit..." She whispers, pushing herself up against the door we'd just shut and pinching her nose. "That's bad." She says. I take a few steps forward. The room was dimly lit with a couple candles. There was a whip hanging from one of the walls, with blood stains trailing from it.

"There's someone sitting there." Kelly whispers, pointing to the back wall of the room. There was a man, his hands were bind by the two noses from the ceiling much like the other room had, his feet shackled to the wall and he was on his knees. "Don't get that close, what if he's dangerous?" She hisses at me as I walked closer to the guy. In the process I passed a table lined with odd shaped sharp objects, all stained with crusted dry blood.

"Are you ok...?" I ask the man, or I think it was a man. I couldn't see his face, his head was hanging and his body was slumped. I only knew he wasn't dead because I could hear his labored and difficult breathing. He was wheezing like crazy. "Hey." I try to get his attention. I reached out to brush away some of the black hair in front of his face and I let out a yelp, falling backwards onto the floor when his head shot up and a pair of glowing red eyes looked at me. Kelly grabbed me and pulled me to my feet and I shoved her back through the door.

"Wait! I'm sorry." His gruff voice called back to us through the door. My chest was heaving and I was leaning my back against it trying to catch my breath. I bit my bottom lip and against better judgement looked through the sliding hole in the door, he was staring back at me. This time though there was no red, just pained blue eyes. "You must be his new pretty little girlfriend... Please come back." He pleads. His first comment scared me a little bit, then he said to come back and my heart about bled for him.

"We need to go." Kelly pulls at my arm. "There's people coming." She adds, looking nervously down the hallway.

"I'm sorry..." I murmured to the guy, letting her pull me back down that narrow hallway. I pull her to a stop when a couple men rip open the guy's door.

"What's all the racket in here?!" He shouts at him.

"You're hearin' shit." He growled back, making my furrow my brows. Why didn't he say anything about Kelly and I?

"What a horrible place..." Kelly says, when we popped out of the woods a few minutes later.

"I want to know what that guy did." I tell her.

"No. No. No." She shakes her head. "His eyes were red. Red is always bad, it always means something bad." She states. I bit my lip and nodded at her. I pushed open the castle doors and was met with a very angry Finn. I tried not to jump and let my fear show, but seriously, he was pretty scary when he was pissed off.

"Where have you been?" He asks me, his jaw twitching slightly. He glances at Kelly, who shrunk herself behind me.

"We were out walking." I shrug. "Is that a problem?" I ask him, narrowing my eyes.

"I've been home for an hour looking for you. If you were just out walking you'd have been easy to find." He states. His lips were set in a thin line.

"Well then you weren't looking very hard." I shrug off his accusation, and pull Kelly along behind me up the steps. "You should shower, because you stink." I smirk at her, leaving her at one of the guest bedrooms. I knew that Finn would be up in the bedroom with me shortly and she didn't need to be there for that.

"Yeah." She shoots me a grateful glance.

"You're lying to me." Finn states, shutting the bedroom door behind me.

"I'm not." I shake my head.

"We can go on forever arguing about this." He sighs, falling into the chair by the bed.

"We can if you want." I smirk at him.

"You must have been being really naughty if you're refusing to tell me what you were actually doing." He raises his eyebrows at me.

"I guess you'll never know." I hold my smirk. That makes him glower at me, like really glower, "Oh did I hit a nerve? Dont like me with an attitude do you?" I chuckle, glancing at the door then back at him.

"It just took me off guard." He comments. "So besides doing whatever you clearly weren't supposed to be doing... What else did you do today?" He questions, changing the subject.

"Kelly and I took out Gannicus and Dillon and messaged around with them. How fast do dragons grow and can I keep him small and adorable forever?" I question trying to be serious.

"He'll be full grown in a year." he chuckle, "And no, I will not stunt his growth for you." He shakes his head with a smile. I pout my lips at him, "Not even with you pouting at me like that." He pushes himself up from the chair and pulls me down onto the bed to lay with him.

"Do you have a jail here?" I ask him curiously.

"I do." He nods.

"Where is it?" I press.

"If I don't tell you are you going to go looking for it?" He questions and I laugh. He knew me too well sometimes. He pulls me up off the bed and takes us out to the back patio. "See that long 'L' shaped building out by the river past the walls?" He asks me and I nod. "That's the jail." He states, "And I promise there's nothing out there that would interest you." He adds. So what was the place that was in the woods? Not like I could just ask...

"Ok." I agree simply.

"Ok." He nods.

"What's for dinner? I'm kind of hungry." I tell him.

"Lets go check, shall we?" He chuckles, motioning me back inside. Thankfully he didn't bring it up anymore that night. Unfortunately though, I knew that he'd probably have his soldiers watching me closer now.

A/N: So the guy with the red eyes is the new character I've been teasing y'all with, who I'll introduce his name in the next chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: When you guys give such awesome reviews it makes me want to update like, all the time Lol. But... suspense! Oh lawd... The things I have planned for the middle of this story.

Regardless of how many people were watching me I'd some how ended up back in front of his door again. My fingers lingered over the handle to pull it open but I just couldn't muster the courage to actually do it.

"I know you're out there doll." His gruff voice says from the other side. "You gonna come in here and talk to me or stare at the door all night?" He questions. How did he know that I was out here? I bit my bottom lip and slowly pulled open the door, stepping inside. "Well, hey doll." He greets me.

"Hi." Was all i could reply with. I looked him over. He looked worse than the first time I'd seen him. He had a huge gash that crossed his forehead over his eye. He sat quietly while I looked him up and down.

"What are you doing down here, doll? It ain't safe. Definitely ain't the place for The Demon's woman to be wanderin' around." He says, "Unless he don't know you're here." He comments, staring intently at me. I bite my lip again, "That's what I figured." He says. "What's your name?" He asks.

"It's not important." I shake my head. The last thing I wanted was for whoever this guy was to know my name, and possibly rat me out. "Why are you down here?" I ask him trying to change the subject.

"You first." Was his reply. I let a moment of silence slip between us before I sigh, and cave.

"Annabelle." I finally say.

"My name is Solomon. Solomon Crowe." He nods. "And I'm down here because your boyfriend thinks I've got information that he wants. About the pack." He answers. I furrow my eyebrows, and think about that for a moment.

"You're a wolf? You know Baron?" i ask curiously. He wasn't near as big as the guys I'd seen when I was with Baron. Significantly shorter, but he was still built like a shit brick house.

"I'm not." He says in a lower, more dangerous tone. "But yes, I know Baron." He tells me, his tone lightening once more. "I am Typhon, and I'll let you figure out what that is on your own." He says with a bloody smirk.

"He's hurting you for information?" I ask, furrowing my brows together. I lean against the wall across from him, following it down to the floor.

"Me." He nods in agreement, "And everything else that's caged down here. The mormo down the hall has is worse though." There was that smirk again. I didn't say anything. I was disappointed, sad and now a bit scared to know it was my man that was doing so much harm to others.

"What did you do to make him hurt you like that?" I ask. I'm hoping for something like I attacked a family from the village or something, anything like that.

"I did nothing." He hissed at me, getting irritated. "I was in my cave when his men came with their magic and drug me here, from my world." He was angry now, I'd poked a sleeping bear.

"You can't just break free?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"Everything under Balor's woods has a block on it. My transformation doesn't work here." he explains. His mood changes really threw me off guard, a second ago he seemed extremely upset and now it was like nothing happened with his calm demeanor.

"Why are you answering my questions?" I ask curiously.

"Because you ain't gave me a reason not to." He shrugs. "Not only that but maybe it'll make ya realize you're with the worst of the worst, unless you know that and just don't care. But I'm pretty sure that ain't the case either, because you look like you're gonna be sick." He states. His eyes roam over my face. I'm sure I had to be pail, because who was I kidding? I wasn't feeling to hot after learning this new information.

"I have to go." I sigh, glancing at the door.

"You should, I'm about due for another session with his boys. Unless you want to stick around to see it." He growls lowly. I only shake my head, standing up and reaching for the door. "Bye,doll." I hear him say before I shut the door. I think I was about to be sick.

***...***...***

"I can't believe you went back in there." Kelly shakes her head. She was hovering over me as I googled stuff on the internet. "That was dumb." She mutters.

"Holy shit." I state, looking at the description. "Typhon... extremely savage and terrifying monster with man's upper body, snake coils instead of legs and serpentine fingers." I tell her.

"That sounds like a really bad... Thing." She says looking for the right word but not being able to come up with anything.

"Eh, he's not really that bad." Baron's deep voice says behind us.

"Jesus Christ!" Kelly jumps, hitting her knee on my desk.

"Do you ever fucking knock?!" I exclaim at Baron. He's smirking, and looks more entertained than anything else.

"You know him?" She asks me, looking back and forth between us.

"Yeah, this is Baron." I motion to him.

"I'm going to my room." She tells me shaking her head. Kelly wasn't really good with this kind of stuff. I'd have to tell her later that Baron wasn't really that bad of a guy. He was always so laid back and chill that I just couldn't feel threatened with him around.

"Solomon is actually a pretty decent guy... Unless you're trespassing in his cave. Pretty much keeps to himself. There aren't many of us that cause a scene. With the exception of the Drakon's. They're just assholes." He shrugs.

"What are you doing here? If Finn comes home and you're here, he's going to send you to that horrible place with Solomon. Not to mention, I'll get in trouble." I say to him, pointing a finger at my own chest.

"Nothing really. Just kinda like your company." He says simply.

"No. No you can't like my company. You can't be here." I shake my head quickly.

"I can't be your friend?" He asks, tilting his head.

"No." I confirm.

"Why?"

"Because my boyfriend wants to kill you." I say casually. "That should be a good enough excuse." I add.

"Your boyfriend isn't always around." He states, then motions around the room. "Clearly."

"What do you want to be friends with me for anyway?" I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Because I think you're a sweet person mixed up in the wrong things, to no fault of your own. It's not your fault that you're his intended." He replies easily. "Listen, I don't know what bullshit he's told you about me or my pack, or my kind but we're not monsters. Don't you dare, ever repeat this because I have a rep to uphold..." He says with an accusing finger. "Mostly we're just kind hearted, easy to get along with, love to be cuddled dogs. We appreciate someone with innocence like you have. Naive to this whole world you've been thrown into. Someone who also has a kind heart." He shrugs.

"Awwww you're so sweet." I grin cheekily at him. I couldn't help it. The persona he usually put off was yes always laid back, but I never thought anything like that could ever leave his mouth.

"Like I said, don't go around repeating that junk." he rolls his eyes.

"Your secret is safe with me." I smirk.

"See? Ya like me a little bit." He winks. He leans over me, looking at my computer. "How does the box know all that?" he questions. I forget that Baron lives in another world and was only visiting here.

"It knows everything. It's called the internet." I tell him, standing up. "Finn will be home soon, you should probably get going." I say.

"You know behind the castle, in the woods there's this tree and little cherry like berries grow on it?" he questions. I nod, I remember passing it when Kelly and I were out there the first time I'd met Solomon. "That tree is a portal to my land. Visit sometime." He suggests.

"Maybe." I agree, following him downstairs.

"See ya." He says, retreating out the back sliding door.

"Bye." I reply, shutting the door behind him. I was on the couch a few hours later when Finn walked in. He looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed together. "What?" I ask him.

"It smells like wet dog in here." He tells me.

"Ooooh... I don't have a dog." I shrug, trying not to smirk but failing. "But Kelly did make this stuffed mushroom thing earlier that reeked up the whole house. That's probably what you're smelling." I tell him, scrunching up my nose.

"You're so cute when you do that." He grins, sitting down next to me. Thankfully he seemed to let the subject go, I'm sure he was smelling Baron.

"I try." I smile, leaning into him.

***...***...***

"How was Iceland?" He questions when I come off the ferry. I could have taken a plane to Iceland, but I'd opted for the boat ride because I loved to watch the marine life, and honestly I was a water girl.

"It was gorgeous." I smile at him. I wrap my arms around his neck, hugging him tight. He returns the hug, pressing his lips along my neck before my lips. He takes my bag from me, and starts towards the car. "It's starting to get cold. I hate it." i sigh, turning the heat on in his car.

"It's fall." He shrugs as if it was an explanation. "I have enough body heat for the two of us." He winks, running a hand over my thigh.

"I believe you." I smirk.

"I'm off the boat. See you tonight." Text to Kelly.

"Good :) Making chicken tortilla soup for dinner, it's in the crock pot." Text from Kelly.

"Oh god, I can't wait!" Text to Kelly.

She knew that chicken tortilla soup was my favorite on a cold day, and at 43 degrees out right now, it was a cold day. Really, anything under 70 degrees was cold to me.

"What's the smile for?" Finn grins at me.

"Kelly has one of my favorite meals in the crock pot, and now I'm starving." I chuckle.

"You should tell Ellena some of your favorites so when you're home with me she can make them for you. She'd be delighted to cook things other than Gaelic meals." He tells me. I smile and lace my fingers in his with a nod.

"When are you going back?" I ask him. I still had questions that I wanted to ask Solomon.

"We..." He emphasizes 'we', "Are going back in a couple days. Professor Galloway is insisting I go along for a business meeting tomorrow after noon. He's trying to expand his work into different countries." He explains.

"He has said that." I nod.

"You like it there?" He questions.

"I do. When I'm there I don't have to worry about work, or school, or if I locked the front door or bills, or well, being an adult at all." I chuckle. "It's relaxing, and I just get to be with you."

"I'm glad you feel that way." He smiles softly. His hand comes up and massages my neck for a moment before resting there as we continued the drive to my house. "Maybe some day you'll think about staying with me on a more pennant basis." He casually suggests.

"Oh... Maybe." I nod slowly. I almost choked on my spit at that suggestion, actually.

"I freaked you out." He notices, "Too soon?" he questions.

"A little, yeah." I nod quickly this time making him chuckle.

"We'll think about it in a year or so." He shrugs, pulling into my drive way.

"That's a better idea." I agree. Part of me felt horrible. If Finn really was the horrible, cruel person I've been hearing about there's no way I could be with him knowing that. Another horrible thought is he's bluntly told me that he'd never be able to bare losing me, and the thought about how he may react or what would happen to him hurts my own heart. Either something would have to seriously change with how he does things, or he would have to find a way to live without me... I would have to find away to live without him... At this point, I'm not sure how I would be able to bare losing him.

"You seem a little distant tonight." He comments.

"I do?" I question. I'd been trying to make it seem like there was nothing else going on, but sometimes that just means that I'm a lot quieter than usual.

"Yes'" He agrees. "Is everything alright?" He asks.

"Yeah." I shrug.

"You're sure?" He narrows his eyes at me.

"I'm sure." I chuckle, "Shut up." I add giving his arm a playful shove.

"How's work been going? We haven't talked about that lately." He asks. His hand slipped around my shoulder and he pulls me into his side here I rest my head against his cheek.

"Work is work." I tell him. "I'd rather be naked on a yacht in Europe, destroying my liver... But I go to work instead." I sigh, making him laugh. "We did get to take out the buggy into the bog a couple days ago, and that was a lot of fun." I grin, making him grin.

"We should plan a visit to see your parents soon." He says suggestively. I raise my eyebrows, I didn't think that meeting my parents would happen so quick either. Then again, it has been a long time since I've been home, and the idea was tempting.

"We could." I agree softly.

"Next month?" He offers.

"Ok." I nod.

"What's the closest airport do you figure?" He wonders out loud.

"Probably Baton Rouge or New Orleans, Grand Bois if you want to spend and extra couple hundred to fly into a town that small." I shrug.

"I'll make arrangements." He tells me. "That smell is over whelming." He grumbles, sliding out from under me. I watch him go into the kitchen and pull the air freshner from under the kitchen sink and start spraying around the house.

"Seriously?" I chuckle, watching in amusement. "It's just chicken."

"Yes. It reeks." He mutters, "I'd rather smell this awful cinnamon apple stuff that Kelly buys." He states. He wasn't really a fan of any scent that Kelly bought.

"I kinda like that Hawiian one." I shrug and he rolls his eyes. He makes a gagging sound a I laugh, shaking my head at him.

"Your cooking doesn't make the kitchen smell like this." He comments, sticking it back under the sink.

"I also don't cook mushrooms, or kraut." I blanch at the thought. Along with my soup, Kel had made herself her kraut casserole that also, wrecked the whole house.

"Good. Don't start." He teases me. How about we stay at my place tonight?" He suggests. The past week we'd been staying at Kelly and I's, not because I didn't want to go to his place we just never got around to leaving my house.

"Ok. Let me get some stuff together." I agree easily, pushing myself up off the couch.

A/N: I have mad love for Solomon, I wish they'd debut him already. *sigh*


	12. Chapter 12

"Doll, ya came back." Solomon's gruff voice greets me. It was hoarse today, like he hadn't spoken in days. He lifts his head to look at me and I bite my bottom lip. His left eye was basically swollen shut and it was black and purple around it.

"I brought you some cake." I say meekly, thinking about how stupid that sounded.

"Why?" He let out a little chuckle, followed by a cough and clearing his throat.

"I don't know, it isn't your birthday?" I shrug helplessly, trying to lighten the mood. "Because I didn't know if they were feeding you, and come on, who doesn't like cake?" I ask him, offering a forkful.

"What a stupid question. Everyone likes cake, for the record I don't remember my birthday." He rebuts, taking the bite. "I don't like being fed." he grumbles.

"Well, I can't let ya loose because they'll probably figure out it was me and because I don't trust you enough not to hurt me." I tell him honestly. He takes a couple more forkfuls, thinking about that for a moment. "How does someone forget their birthday?" I basically scoffed, shaking my head.

"The first thing I'd do is back you up against that wall behind ya, and fuck your brains out." He states in a lusty tone. His eyes were locked with my own. While my face may have looked shocked, the comment literally made my core involuntarily clench. "Sorry doll, was that to blunt? I'm not known for my subltly." He shrugs.

"A little." I reply with wide eyes. New subject please. "Do you know what's all down here and why they're here?" I ask curiously in a desperate attempt at a subject change.

"Everything is down here for the same reason." He basically scoffed. "When the Demon wants information he does whatever he wants to do to get that information out of you. Regardless of if it kills you or not, though he enjoys to drag out the torture. If that ain't obvious already." He looks down at himself. My heart broke. I didn't want anything of this to be true. How could the sweet, charming, caring man that I knew be so cruel?

"Oh." Was all I could respond with. A few minutes of silence pass between us. I was trying to process all this information while basically just staring at him. He stared right back, his gaze just as unwavering as my own.

"What do you keep comin' down here for, doll? You must like me." He smirks.

"Because you're probably the only one down here that'll talk to me." I admit. "How old are you?" I ask curiously.

"1200 years old." He answers without hesitation. "Give or take a few." He adds with a shrug. "How do you make it down here without getting caught? he asks back.

"Finn leaves me alone in the castle most of the day." I answer. Another thing that was starting to annoy me. He'd be gone in the morning, waking me up to let me know he was leave, then he wouldn't come back until dinner. Which I suppose is a regular 9-5 job, but seems like eternity if I'm by myself all day. "If I time it right and leave in the morning, then I get back in time for a late lunch and no one really notices I'm missing. No one really notices me in the castle anyway, besides a few people." I shrug.

"Why would he leave such an extraordinary creature by herself all day?" He wonders and I actually blush, letting red creep up into my cheeks.

"Probably to find more creatures to torture in his creepy ass dungeon." I sigh. We both look at the door when there's voices walking down the hall towards us. "Shit." I mumble, glancing around the room. There was no way out, and literally no where for anything or anyone to hide without being obviously seen.

"There's a hidden door behind the shelf on the wall, doll. When the Demon comes down here, that's the door he comes through so it's gotta lead into the castle or close." He says quickly, nodding his head towards the shelf. I pick up the plate that the cake had been on, and scramble to the shelf.

"Thank you." I whisper to him, pulling it shut behind me. I jogged down the hallway until there was a narrow, tall, spiral staircase going up. Figuring I had nothing to lose and no other choice I followed it up. By the time I reached the door at the top my legs were literally on fire. Quietly I cracked open the door, and was met by what seemed like clothes. As I pushed my way through it I realized that it was the closet in Finn's master bedroom. Luckily he wasn't back yet, because the room was empty. Well, I guess that didn't really mean he wasn't home, it just meant he wasn't up here right now.

***...***...***

"Ok well the problem with that idea is that he could suspect it was I who lets Solomon go." I glower at Baron who was on the other side of my kitchen counter.

"Why would he think that? You're the precious girlfriend that can do no wrong in his eyes." He basically scoffed. So Baron and I were trying to put our heads together to think of a fool proof way to get Solomon out of there.

"Because he already knows that I'm sneaking around doing something." I sigh. "He kind of caught Kelly and I a couple weeks ago. He went out looking for us and he couldn't find us." I tell him, leaning back against the stove. "Not only that but I'm sure he's getting suspicious about the house too. We can't keep hanging out here. He smelled wet dog the last time you were here, I blamed it on Kelly's cooking." I say and he smirks.

"It's that bad, huh?" he teases making me chuckle.

"Well, usually it's not awful but she does make this nasty ass mushroom dish. That's all besides the point." I add with a shake of my head.

"You can always come to my place." He suggests.

"I shouldn't be seeing you at all." I shake my head. Truth was, I was really starting to like Baron. Not like in a sexual way, but he was actually a pretty nice guy and I enjoyed his company a lot. If the situation wasn't how it is, we'd make great friends.

"You shouldn't but that hasn't stopped you yet." He shrugs. He rakes a hand through his shoulder length hair that for once wasn't pulled into a pony tail. "Where's he at anyway?" He wonders.

"Honestly? I have no idea." I reply, glancing at my phone. "If I work all day then I usually don't see him until dinner time, but I got off early today." I say to him. I neglected to tell Finn I was off early, but that's because Baron was in my living room when I got home today.

"All you've gotta do is get Solomon out of that room. He'll morph and snap himself back to his cave." He says, bringing Solomon up again. I've figured out that these guys were pretty close friends. Apparently you'll find friends and allies in creatures you wouldn't generally get along with if you have to team up against something as powerful as Finn.

"Ok listen... Again, I don't want to get the blame for this. I don't want the wrath of the Demon on me." I chuckle, "And secondly his ankles are chained to the wall with a key that I don't have, nor do I know where it is." I sigh. If I had to take a guess it was either on Finn somewhere, or hidden in the bedroom somewhere. Or I could be totally wrong. Shit, he might keep those keys hanging on a wall somewhere like you would your house and car keys at home. "How come you can't do that were transport thing?" I ask him curiously.

"Hey, I'm just a dog." He shrugs with a smirk. "I don't come with any powers besides shifting forms."

"Yeah, a dog that doesn't listen for shit. I don't know how many times I told you that ya shouldn't be here." I grumble at him. "How about you break in and get him out? Finn and I will both be gone here soon for a couple weeks to go visit my family in Louisiana." I tell him. He stares at me, thinking about that for a moment.

"That could work." He finally agrees. "Why do you want him to meet your family?" He furrows his brows at me.

"He's still my boyfriend." I raise my eyebrows at him. "He's still good to me. He still treats me with respect. Every morning he wakes me up with kisses. Always tells me to have a good day. Checks up on me. Sometimes he makes me dinner. Fucks me hard and makes sure I'm satisfied." I rattle that last part off quicker, trying not to smirk.

"Alright, alright." He sighs, rolling his eyes. "Gross." He adds, making a face.

"You should probably get going though. I'm not sure what time he'll come here, and I need time to mask the wet dog smell from him." I say honestly. Which shouldn't be a problem because I'd already started to make up some Chili for dinner.

"Alright. Talk to you later." He agrees, starting for the back door.

"Bye." I murmur, turning around to the cupboards.

***...***...***

"That smells good." Finn murmurs against my ear. His fingers hook into my belt loop and he presses soft kisses along my shoulder and neck. "Is that soda bread?" He questions, looking at the loaf on the counter. Soda bread was an Irish thing.

"Yes, do you like it?" I ask him hopefully. "I've never made it before but I wanted to make you something Irish for once..." I say with a shyer look. I wasn't really much for going out of my cooking comfort zone, but I wanted to try something new tonight.

"It's one of my favorites." He grins, "I'm sure it'll be great." He kisses my cheek. "Thank you for making it." He adds, hoisting himself up on a stool across from me.

"You're welcome." I murmur.

"I booked our tickets to Louisiana." He smiles, looking actually a little bit excited.

"Yeah?" I grin, "For when?"

"Exactly two weeks. Is that too soon?" He questions.

"No it's not. But... We're not getting married in three weeks, so just remember that." I rebut, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Nor was I expecting to wed you in three weeks." He smirks.

"My parents are going to wonder why I'm bringing home a man that I've only been dating for a couple months." I sigh.

"Do you know how old your parents were when they got married?" He questions curiously.

"Well, my momma was 16... So my daddy was like 19 or 20 probably." I answer simply. "Which has nothing to do with how long I've been with you." I tell him. "I miss Gannicus." I sigh.

"Would you like me to get you a puppy?" He questions.

"I want you to transport yourself home, get Gannicus and bring him back with you." I state, "What does my dragon have to do with a puppy?" I narrow my eyes at him, confused.

"Nothing. You realize Gannicus can't live here right? A dog can. He'll eventually get to big for me to bring him over here." He explains before he disappeared. I only grinned, because he really just went home to get me my dragon. A minute or so later he reappears in the dining area, holding my little monster.

"Oh, there's my baby!" I coo at him. He had been glancing around the house like 'where am I?' and when he heard my voice his head perked in my direction, wiggling himself out of Finn's arms to waddle over to me. "Hello sweet boy." I pick him up, snuggling him against my chest. His head rests on my shoulder while I run my fingers along his wings.

"His love for you is... What's the word you always use?" He murmurs, thinking about it for a minute. "Ridiculous." He finally states and I grin. "He and Dillon both. Ridiculous." He smirks.

"And you." I return his smirk, pressing my lips lightly against his.

"And I." He agrees.

"Do you want a treat?" I ask Gannicus, setting him down on the floor. He has a moment of difficulty trying to walk on my tile floors, but gets the hang of it after a minute or so.

"He doesn't need a treat." Finn rolls his eyes. "He is not a dog."

"He's a pet. My pet. My baby." I raise my eyebrows at him. "My baby that in a years time if I tell him to set fire to your face, he'll do it." I put my hands on my hips, trying to be serious. He grins, a big wide one and shakes his head with a chuckle.

"Give him his treat then." He hoists himself back up onto the stool. I pull out some chicken from the fridge and toss him a couple good sized pieces. "You spoil him." He grumbles.

"I spoil you." I scoff. "Guess I should stop cooking for you then." I shrug simply.

"You're very difficult." He chuckles. "I quite enjoy it." He adds. "Baramire would be extremely unhappy that you spoil him and give him so much lovey attention."

"Why?" I ask.

"We use our dragons for battle, spoiling them with affection and treats will make them soft." He shrugs simply.

"He's my dragon, and he won't be used for battle. If that's what you originally wanted then you shouldn't have introduced me to the eggs in the first place. In no way, shape or form will I ever support a war or battle or anything that involves hurting or killing another living being." I say making myself very clear.

"I know you won't." He smiles.

"I'm serious. Like, ever." I tell him.

"I'm serious. I know." He nods. "I would never ask you to support such things."

"Nor do I support any kind of torturing because you would want something they have." I raise my eyebrows. That comment earned a look, and I received and almost skeptical look. "If someone were to break the law, fine, jail... But that's it." He only replies with an 'mmhmm' which kind of gave me enough of an answer. "So if you have anything tucked away in deep dark places that you're hiding from me, might want to think about letting it go." Oh... May have said too much with that one.

"What sparked this?" He narrows his eyes at me. "Have I hidden anything from you yet?" He asks.

"Well, I haven't exactly asked about anything like that, so you haven't needed to hide anything. Plus you know damn well if I asked about something darker you'd just tell me that 'I wasn't ready to hear it yet'." I wave my hands in the air, before turning around to grab some bowls. Ok, I'd definitely said too much and I was starting to sound super suspicious. Time to stop. "Do you want cheese or crackers with your chili?" I ask him, glancing over my shoulder casually.

"I'm not sure that we're finished discussing this. You haven't answered my question." He states with raised eyebrows. He didn't look very impressed with me right now.

"Nothing sparked it... It's just something that has crossed my mind a few times since you've told me about the whole Demon king God thing." I shrug. "Cheese or crackers?" I repeat. I was now desperate to change the subject.

"Cheese." He basically growled. I turn back to the fridge, trying to hide my 'oh shit' face, and grab the bag of shredded cheese. I chose to not say anything more, and hope that he couldn't hear my heart pounding against my chest. "You're lying to me about something." He says, calming his tone a little bit. It was still dark, dangerous and a little scary, but down a couple levels from a moment ago.

"I'm not." I shake my head 'no'. I focus hard on the chili as I scoop it out of the crock pot, he's staring at me really hard, enough that my entire body feels like it's on fire. "Here, eat" I say, setting the bowl in front of him and tossing the cheese over there too. He's about to say something else when thankfully my phone starts to ring on the counter, I watch him glower at it. I glance at the caller ID, it was my momma.

"Hey momma." I greet her, leaning against the counter furthest from Finn.

"Hey darlin' how are you doing?" She asks me.

"I'm good momma, just finished making some chili for Finn and I." I tell her. I'd told my parents a while ago that I was seeing Finn, so he wasn't a new name in our conversation. "What're you guys doin'?" I ask her.

"Well, you're daddy is out on the boat as usual. I'm in the kitchen, makin' dinner. How are you guys doin?" She asks me

"We're good..." I glance up at Finn who was still watching me. "So uhm, we may or may not have tickets to come visit." I murmur to her.

"What?! You're coming home?!" She exclaims happily. "And you're bringing a man?" She asks.

"Yes, and yes." I chuckle.

"I never thought this day would happen." She tells me and I glower.

"Momma..." I groan.

"When?" She asks.

"Two weeks." I answer. "Please prep daddy to be nice." I sigh and she laughs.

"He'll be fine. How long are you guys staying?" She asks me. "Oh my gosh, I have to clean, and get some groceries..." She starts to rattle off.

"We're staying for..." I glance up at Finn who mouthed 'one week' to me, "A week." I answer her.

"Well, I am excited. And your daddy is going to be thrilled." She states.

"Yeah, until you tell him Finn is coming too." I roll my eyes.

"He'll be fine." She assures me.

"Yeah." I mutter. "Alright momma, I wanna eat my dinner so I"ll call you later."

"Alright baby, I love you."

"Love you too momma." I reply.

"Bye." I hear her say before I repeated it and hung up. I bite my bottom lip and set my phone down on the counter.

"She's excited." I smile at him.

"As am I." He nods, scooping some chili into his mouth. "Again, not to sound like a broken record but this is excellent. You are too good to me." He says.

"Thank you." I smile. Internally I sigh a breath of relief because I think he had dropped our earlier subject. I've definitely made him suspicious though, and that may have been a huge mistake on my part.

A/N: :) - my smirking face for the chapters coming up. Muhahaha.


	13. Chapter 13

"Why are you so nervous?" Finn asks, sliding his hand over my thigh. We were sitting in the Dublin airport, and I was quite literally sweating my ass off. Not because I was hot, but airplanes made me super nervous.

"The thought of diving nose first and crashing into the ocean is a reoccurring nightmare of mine." I admit, making him chuckle.

"We will be fine." He assures me, "And if in some kind of freak accident the plane does decide to crash, I'll transport us out of there." He chuckles.

"Why didn't you just transport us to Louisiana?" I growl at him. Why spend unnecessary money on plane tickets if he could just use his powers to get us there instantly.

"Because I'd like to have this experience with you." He smiles. "I'd like to have as many normal, human, Earthy experiences with you as I possibly can." He adds. I try to hide my smile from him and bury my face into his bicep. The butterflies in my stomach were in full force right now. When he says things like that, it makes me want to just be with him forever.

"Ok." I reply, my words muffled by his shirt. We had a good 17 hour plane ride to get back home, along with a couple transfers. The whole thing sounded miserable to me, but I wasn't about to bitch about it. He never brought up the whole torture thing again after that night in the kitchen, but I have noticed that the last couple times we were at the castle he'd kept a closer eye on me and didn't stay away near as long as he usually did. Which means, that I didn't have any time to go and see Solomon. I was on the other hand able to speak with Baron before we left so that he knew he had to go ahead to get Sol out of there.

"Were you this concerned on the flight here?" He asks.

"Yes." I confirm. "Poor Kelly." I add with a sympathetic look. Since it was Kel that had to deal with me on the trip out here.

"Indeed." He agrees, trying not to smile.

"You're an asshole." I laugh, smacking his arm.

"I'm not." He smirk, putting an arm around me shoulder. We board the plane and I move the arm rest between us, leaning my head against his shoulder. "Do you get ill?" He questions, looking down at me.

"I don't." I shake my head. "As long as I don't eat or drink for the next 17 hours." I add, earning a very unpleased look.

"You can't go all day without eating anything." He basically scolds me.

"If I eat, I might get air sick." I warn him. "It's just better if I skip food and drinks and eat like a cow when we get to Louisiana." I say. He lets out a long, loud sigh but doesn't push the subject anymore.

***...***...***

"Momma!" I exclaim, wrapping my arms around her neck. Finn had chosen to spend the extra money to fly in closer to home, so my parents were able to pick us up from the airport. In my peripheral vision I see my daddy giving Finn a skeptical once over.

"Oh my baby girl, I missed you." She tells me, her voice muffled by my shoulder.

"I missed you too." I reply, letting her go.

"Get in here." My daddy says, holding his arms out for me. I only grin and let him wrap them around me. Not much more felt like home than this. "You stay gone too long." He grumbles at me.

"I know." I sigh as he loosened his grip on me. "Momma, daddy this is my boyfriend Finn. Finn, Theresa and Junior." I introduce them. My momma wastes no time in hugging him, and I can tell it caught Finn a little off guard but he recovered quickly.

"Sir, delighted to meet you." He says to my daddy, extending a hand. Junior grunts, barely acknowledging him but does shake his hand.

"Finn, what do you like to eat?" Momma asks him on the car ride home. Thank god it was only about a half hour, because the tension my daddy was creating in the driver seat was about to blow everyone out the windows.

"I'll be delighted to eat anything you make, mam." He replies, making my daddy let out a 'pshh' sound in front of me. I reach around and punch him in the shoulder, not hard, but enough to make him glower at me in the rear view mirror.

"Can you please just be nice?" I growl at him, earning an eye roll.

"I ain't bein' mean." he tries to defend himself. This time is was my momma's turn to look over and glare at him. "What?" He asks her, pulling into our driveway.

"You just go get settled in, I'll be-" My momma starts.

"In the kitchen when we're done." I finish for her and she smiles, nodding. My momma was always in the kitchen. She was just brought up in that time where women were house wives, and it just wasn't for me.

"I didn't think your father would be quite that intimidating." Finn admits once I'd shut our bedroom door.

"Big, bad, demon king can't handle my daddy?" I smirk at him, raising an eyebrow.

"This is different." He tells me, sitting on the edge of the bed. "It's extremely important to me that your family approves of me. I already get the feeling he doesn't particularly like me." He sighs.

"My daddy just needs time, he'll be fine." I assure him. "Just don't show fear." I smile at him, palming his face. "Thank you, for doing this." I say to him. Even if it's all happening really, really fast.

"You don't need to thank me." He chuckles. "I want to be here with you." A few moments of silence pass between us as I unpack a few things that I'd need tonight. "You won't mind distracting your parents while I check on things at the castle tomorrow afternoon would you?" He questions.

"What?" I snap, turning around.

Oh, oh... Too much. I cared about that statement way too much.

"I'll only be gone a half hour at most. Is that a problem?" He questions, obviously caught off guard by my small outburst.

"Yeah, it's a fucking problem." I hiss at him. "We're here to spend time with my family, and you're going to fucking leave. It's a god damn problem." I say, crossing my arms over my chest. "You don't think that Baramire can make it 7 days without you? I'm pretty sure he's gone longer before."

"I won't go then." He says simply, throwing up the white flag. "You're right." No... That was too easy. It was way to fucking easy. I hated these weird mind games that he played, I know he's fucking with my head right now.

"No. Go. I don't fucking care." I shake my head. I was trying to first off cover up my freaking about him leaving and potentially catching Baron in the act of busting Solomon out, and secondly because now I was pissed off at him for even thinking it was going to be alright with me that he was going to go back to the castle even if just for a half hour. I wouldn't leave his family if we were visiting them. Note to self: Ask about any relatives at some point in the future.

"Well, I'm definitely not going now." He shakes his head with a short chuckle. I put the last of my bathroom stuff on the counter, trying hard not to lose my shit on him.

"No. Go." I repeat, kicking off my shoes. "Maybe you should just fucking go now." I sarcastically suggest. Before he can even respond I whip the bedroom door open and head into the living room. He's literally right behind me and I crawl onto the couch, sitting right up against my daddy and snuggling into him.

"Hey babygirl." He mumbles, glaring daggers at Finn who was now standing there awkwardly. He chooses to sit down in the loveseat across from us. Normally I'd tell my daddy off about looking at my boyfriend that way, but right now he could glare a whole through him for all I cared. Finn was looking at me, and I know he was cursing me internally for bailing out into the living room like I did.

"Daddy, when can we go fishin'?" I ask him, wrapping my arm around his right arm.

"When ever you want." He answers. "That boyfriend of yours know how to fish?" He asks me.

"Why don't you ask him." I suggest, avoiding Finn's eyes. Edward doesn't say anything, he just looks over expectantly at Finn, who had his hands nicely folded in his lap.

"I've never been fishing before, sir." He shakes his head, earning a scoff.

"Suppose we'll have to teach ya then." Edward replies, letting out a sigh.

"And you'll have the best teachers." My momma calls out to us from the kitchen. "Baby, you wanna go to the store for me?" She asks me.

"Sure momma." I agree, slipping on a pair of her flip flops that were laying by the couch. "You comin'?" I ask Finn when Junior hands me his truck keys. One thing I was not... Was mean enough to leave him here alone with my momma and daddy, regadless of if we were fighting or not.

"Of course." He nods pushing himself up off the couch.

"I need some fish fry, and get y'all somethin' to drink. I know you don't drink your daddy's beer." She says to me as we were walking out the door.

"Ok." i call back.

"That was cowardly. Hiding behind your father in the middle of our discussion." Finn states. He basically refused to look at me right now. I only shrugged, basically ignoring the comment. "I did not realize that it was this important to you, and I apologize for being insensitive to that. I won't go." He says, glancing at me sideways.

"Ok." I shrug again.

So, that being said...

***...***...***

The next morning when I woke up I could literally feel the tention in the air. I cracked an eye open and glanced at the clock, it was only 6:02 in the morning, there was still plenty of time to go back to sleep. Instead I rolled over and looked up at Finn with big green, and of course very innocent eyes. He was propped against the head board of the bed, staring right back down at me. While I was looking at him with bedroom eyes, his stare was more angry and maybe a little menacing. I noticed as I onced him over, that he was also dressed.

"Why are you dressed so early?" I basically groan, running my hand over his leg. His thigh muscle clenched under my touch and I look up at him again.

"Is it early?" He questions, furrowing his brow.

"It's fucking 6 am." I growled at him. He glanced at the clock.

"Indeed." He agrees. He stares straight ahead. I knew the second I woke up that something wasn't right, but he was starting to freak me out.

"What's wrong?" I ask, sitting up more in bed. "Are you ok?"

"I am fine, my love." He says, looking at me. He tries to smile, but it honestly looked more painful than anything.

"Ok, my turn to say you're lying to me." I raise my eyebrows. "Come on Finn... You're dressed, for one thing. Plus I could feel your tension when I woke up. Tell me what's wrong." I press.

"I have a missing prisoner and left overs of a wolf." He finally answers.

"You fucking went home? Are you serious?" I sigh annoyed, narrowing my eyes. His angry gaze focuses on me, and I hold my own not backing down. "You said you were staying here with me, you couldn't stay away from there for 7 fucking days?" i ask him. If it were possible his gaze grew even more upset, it actually made me shrink back into the bed slightly.

"Let me tell you about what happened." He suggests calmly. I huff and cross my arms over my chest but nod for him to go on. "I decided to check on things while you were asleep, so it would not bother anyone. When I arrived home Baramire informed me of our missing prisoner. His name is Solomon." He looks right into my eyes when he said Solomon's name. I couldn't hold the eye contact and glanced at out the window before back to him. "But I suppose you would already know that since you've been down there." He says in that low dangerous tone I've heard before.

"I have no idea what you're going on about." I scoff and shake my head, trying to play it off.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Annabelle." He snaps. "Baramire handed me these," he holds out his hand where there were a couple hot pink bobby pins in his palm. My, hotpink bobby pins. My stomach dropped. "The men saw he and Baron making their way through a portal on the far side of the forest but didn't make it to them in time. How long have you been conspiring with Baron behind my back? How long have you been going to the dungeons?" He asks me. His eyes were literally burning a hole through me right now. My mouth was dry, and I didn't know how to respond. I couldn't deny it, he hand the proof in the palm of his hand. But I was about to deny anyway, deny till you die, right?

"Like I said... I don't know what the fuck you're talking about." I say, pushing myself up off the bed. I tried to make a hasty exit, because I knew my momma an daddy were both up in the kitchen by now, but he grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him. "You're fucking hurting me." I try to yank my wrist out of his hand but in the struggle he'd ended up with both wrists in each hand, holding me hard and flush against him. While he was looking right down at me I had my head turned to the side, focusing hard on the dresser by the bed. "Stop being an asshole, my bobby pins don't prove fucking shit. They fall out, everywhere." I growl at him.

"You've been sneaking around the castle for weeks now and I've turned cheek the other way, but once you start letting my prisoners go I can no longer pretend you're up to nothing." He tells me. "Now the conversation in the kitchen makes perfect sense. It also makes perfect sense on why you fought with me about visiting home. You didn't want Baron to get caught in the act." He growled. Well, it was actually more like a soft roar.

"What's goin' on in there? Baby girl you alright?" My daddy calls through the door. Finn immediately retracts, letting my wrists go and stepping back from me a few feet.

"Everything is fine daddy. Is momma makin' breakfast?" I call back. I could feel the shakiness in my voice, but I managed to sound normal through the wooden door. My right hand was rubbing my left wrist.

"She is, you want your eggs scrambled?" He asks through the door.

"Yes please." I say, "Finn likes them the same way." I add, looking at his angry face. "I"ll be out in a minute." I hear him retreat from the door and I turn around to look for some pants to put on. Before I had a chance to even reach for the dresser drawer Finn had pushed me into the bathroom and pinned me against the bathroom counter. "Stop..." I murmur, not looking him in the eyes. The counter was digging into my back, he had me held so hard against it.

"Right now is a good time to start telling me the fucking truth, Annabelle." He whispers it in my ear. It may have been a soft whisper, but he may as well have just screamed at me because I flinched like he did.

"You're scaring me." I say pathetically. My heart was racing, my body was clammy and shaking, and I was fighting back tears. I'm not sure why I was about to cry, probably the sudden attitude he'd taken on.

"Stop lying to me." Was his simple response.

"I'm not lying." I insist. I gasp when his hand flies up and grabs my chin hard, fingers pressing into my skin and forcing me to look at him. Using the last of the courage I had at the moment, "You better take your fucking hand off me." I snarl at him, pushing him back a couple feet with my hands to his chest. "Don't you ever think it's ok to put your damn hands on me like that." I point an accusing finger at him. He didn't look convince at all. It was closer to a 'remind why I tolerate you' kind of look. "Maybe you should just go the fuck home. I'll make up some kind of excuse for you." I tell him, pulling on a pair of sweat pants.

"Annabelle-" He said through gritted teeth and reaches for me but I cut him off and basically leap out of the bathroom. I pulled the bathroom door shut, hard, giving myself enough time to make it to the bedroom door before he got to me again. "Annabelle!" I heard him call again, pulling the door back open.

"End of discussion." I say whipping the bedroom door open.

Shit was about to go down when we got home.

A/N: I don't know... I don't really have anything to say here. Lol. Hope you enjoyed it like I enjoyed writing it. I deeply enjoy writing and angry Finn. Yes, yes, more of that I think


	14. Chapter 14

Well he didn't go home, he stuck it out instead and the next six days of our vacation was the most awkward of my life. The tension was ridiculous. The entire subject of Solomon and the castle was dropped. He never brought it up after I bailed out of the room, and I of course never brought it up again either. During the day he would literally act like there was nothing wrong, and honestly it was a little intimidating. As scared and angry with him as I was I refused to let him go back to the castle at night, lord knows I wasn't excited to sleep next to him after all this, in fear that he'd go right after Solomon and Baron. It made me a little sad that he refused to touch me all night, part of me still wanted to cuddle with him, like I still loved the fuck out of his asshole self. I know he had to feel the anxiety that was pouring out of my body, just like I could feel the anger that was radiating off of him. He was so upset with me that nearly right after my parents had dropped us off at the air port he pulled us into a handicap restroom and transported us back to my house, then disappeared himself, leaving me standing in the living room. The whole time my heart was pounding against my rib cage. Damn those fucking bobby pins. They fell out everywhere. No seriously, even the bog was littered with them, every once in a while I'd find one laying in the grass.

"You're home early." Kelly comments, walking down the steps. "How'd it go?" She asks. She walks into the kitchen and looks at me. "What's wrong?" She asks, automatically going into panic mode.

"Finn found out that I've been in the dungeon. He also found out that I helped Baron break him out." I rattle off softly. I was still trying to process everything. "I'm in trouble..." I add, looking at her.

"Where is he?" She asks cautiously.

"I don't know. He wouldn't even take the plane ride here, he brought us right home then left." I answer. "He pretended that everything was fine the whole trip... It's going to boil over, and it's going to be bad." I tell her softly. I've seen what he's done to other things that make him angry, I didn't want to be on the receiving end of that. Deep in my heart I wanted to believe he would never hurt me, but there's still that sliver that isn't sure.

"Where's Baron and Solomon?" She questions.

"I haven't had a chance to even find them. I'm not sure I want to." I answer. The realization hit me. "Oh my god, he's going after them!" I exclaim. "I've got to go find them." i say to her, heading up to my bedroom to put on something to go trudging around the woods in.

"You can't just go out there. If it wasn't safe before it definitely not safe right now." She tries to reason with me.

"Well I'm sure not going to sit around and do nothing." I say, pulling on a pair of blue jeans. "I'll be back at some point." I assure her, headed for the back door.

"Wait, what if he comes back looking for you?" She asks wide eyed, "What am I supposed to say?"

"He won't be back, but if he happens to just tell him I went into town." I answer, wandering off into the backyard. I remembered the tree that Baron had told me led to his land, I just wasn't really sure how to get it to work. I stared at it, and focused hard and finally after about 30 seconds it started to open up for me. "Baron!" I called out to the group. It looked exactly like it did that day he kidnapped me, they were all sitting on logs and make shift chairs talking amoung themselves.

"Well, look who showed up." He chuckles, standing up and walking towards me. "You look like you seen a ghost, what's wrong?" He asks, putting a protective hand on my shoulder.

"I got caught." Was all I could tell him. "Where is Solomon?" I ask him.

"He's home, in his new cave. He found a new place so Finn wouldn't be able to drag him back so easily." He answers, "How did he find out?"

"I left behind clues apparently..." I sigh, earning a look. "It was an accident. The bobby pins I wear in my hair fell out in the dungeon, and his men saw you guys leaving through a portal. So good job on being fucking subtle." I glower at him, "Plus with me sneaking around already, like it wasn't hard to put together."

"You shouldn't be here. If he finds you here, like I don't even know." He says, his eyes suddenly full of concern. "YOu need to get your ass back home." He instructs.

"I'm not leaving. I came here to protect you ya big lug." I laughed. We were both trying to protect each other, and it was ridiculous.

"Shit... I don't need protecting." He chuckles, glancing back at the pack. When he turns back to face me I can see Finn's reflection in his eyes, which meant he wasn't that far behind me. "We don't bother you, you don't bother us. Wasn't that the deal?" Baron says in a deep baritone voice. I watched as a few of the guys changed into wolf form, and nearly every one stood up to face Finn. I on the other hand, hadn't even turned around yet. Panic was starting to set in. I was honestly trying to take on more than I could handle. No, I didn't really need to be here trying to protect Baron, but in my mind I thought I did.

"That was until you trespassed onto my land, broke into my dungeon, aided an escaped prisoner, and why you think it's ok to be speaking to my woman is definitely a problem." Finn says smoothly. "Annabelle, I'd like for you to go home while we resolve this issue." He says to me calmly.

"I'm not leaving you to kill Baron-"

"You will go home, as you're told to fucking do!" He yelled at me cutting into my reply, his voice literally making the ground shake. Baron snarled, and I stumbled to the side as he turned into wolf form and stepped in front of me. "You don't really think that you could stop me, mutt?" He asks him, amused.

"Please don't be like this..." I try to reason with Finn. My tone was calm, trying to bring everyone down a notch or two. "Just let them live their lives, and we can go live ours. Isn't that our end goal?" I ask. My eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

"He broke our agreement, I have no need to be lenient towards him. You have also broken my rules, and I have no need to reason with you. You will go back home as your told." He says simply. "I'm going to ask you one more time to go home on your own, or I'll put you there myself." He warns me. His ice blue eyes were locked onto my green ones, Baron was still between us, his teeth bared at Finn.

"No." I shake my head. It was all so quick that I'm not sure what all happened. All I remember was feeling Finn's hand wrap around my upper arm, letting out a yelp of pain from it and suddenly I was back in my bedroom but he was still gone. "No he fucking didn't." I grumble. I reached for the door handle, only to find that my door was locked. "What the fuck? Kelly!" I shout into the house. "Kelly!" I shout again, giving the door a few good smacks.

"Why is your door locked?" She questions and I hear her jiggle the door on the other side.

"Mother fucker locked me in here." I mutter unimpressed. I take a step back, putting my hands on my hip and looking at the door as if it were a puzzle to solve. "Do we have a key?" I ask her.

"Listen, I didn't even know the doors had locks." She admits. I feel her slam her weight into the door, but it doesn't budge.

"Whatever, I'll go out the window." I say, walking towards it. I easily slip out the window onto the roof of the house and drop myself in front of the back door. She's in the kitchen and I explain everything that just happened.

"He sounds pissed." She comments.

"He's going to kill Baron." I say softly, putting my head in my hands. At this point, regardless of how Finn felt about anything I considered Baron a friend. "I've got to go back, again." I tell her. "I'm probably too late, but I need to go back in there." I insist.

When I traveled back through my mouth dropped open in shock. The field was completely torched, and there was no one in sight. I dropped down the base of a tree, running a hand over my face and trying not to cry. If I'd had just not gone down into the dungeon, not listened to Baron at all... None of this would have happened. A few stray tears fell down my face and I hastily wiped them away. Finn caused all this damage. One man. I realized in this world there was good and there was bad, and I knew Finn was on the bad end, but there had to be a way we could move him just a little towards good. There had to be a happy medium somewhere right? If not, it was something I knew I couldn't handle. He was something I knew I couldn't handle.

***...***...***

I'd been sitting on the edge of my bed for a few hours now, staring at the painted wall with my phone in my hand.

"I don't want you in my house with your current attitude. Please stay away until you chose to be a reasonable adult." Text to Finn.

I knew that was going to get me into more trouble. I was doing everything I could to try and be strong on the outside, and act like nothing he's done has bothered or scared me. To be honest everything has scared me. I didn't want to stand up to him, I didn't want to know what he might do if I angered him more. Within a minute he was standing in front of me, in a black suit that I'd seen him in before.

"Please get out." I said softly, focusing hard on the floor of bedroom. He crouches down in front of me, resting his hands on my knees, which made me flinch, so much for being strong, to hold himself in place.

"I'd like to discuss this as 'reasonable adults' as you call it." He tells me. I heard the demeaning tone when he'd said reasonable adults and had to bite back a scoff. Was he being mean, just to be mean?

"Like you discussed things with Baron and the pack?" I bite back sarcastically.

"Don't use that tone with me!" He boomed. I crawled into myself, still not looking at him. "First, I'd like you to tell me the truth about whether you were in the dungeons or not." He says.

"I was in the dungeons." I almost whispered my admittance.

"Why?" He scoffs. "Why couldn't you have just stayed in the castle? I made sure you had everything you'd need, I let you bring Kelly so you had company. You have Gannicus, you have Dillon... Why couldn't you just do as you were told and stayed put?" he asks in astonishment. I stay quiet. He still didn't know that Baron has been to the house while he was gone. Or at least I didn't think he did. "Why couldn't you just listen?" He sighs, leaning against the wall across from me. "Life would be so much easier if you just listened."

"If you knew me like you claim you do, you know that I have a problem with that." I manage to answer in a steady tone.

"Yes, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into when I found out you were my true intended." He sighs. I watch him rub his temples out of my peripheral vision.

Stupid things I say in 3, 2, 1...

"Maybe you should keep in fucking mind that I"m choosing to be with you, regardless of how much of a fucking asshole you are." I growl, looking up at him.

"Such a disrespectful mouth." He smirks, taking my chin in his hand. This time though it wasn't near as harsh as at my parents house. His thumb rolls over my bottom lip, and I had half a mind to bite on it.

"Did you kill them?" I ask softly, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"Not yet." He replies casually.

"You better not." I say, trying to be strong again.

"Or what?" He chuckles. He seriously found me entertaining right now. This wasn't the man I knew. Obviously after everything I knew that he had this side to him, but I didn't think I would actually have to see it or face it ever.

"Or I can't be with you." I tell him, as if it was obvious. I thought it was obvious. He stopped smirking and looked down at my serious face. I could literally see the emotions running through his brain right now. "I told you in the kitchen, I can't be with someone who's like this." I shrug. The whole feeling in the room changed and I was looking up at the Finn I'd known that past few months again.

"You think it's that simple? To just, stop?" He asks. He was still holding my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

"It should be." I nod.

I knew it wasn't, but that didn't mean he could try, and it didn't mean that we couldn't adjust some things that happened around the castle. I'm not asking for a total 360, I knew some things couldn't change, but on the flip side of that there are a lot of things that can be changed.

"It's not." He shakes his head. I stare at him. I loved him so much. I hadn't said it out loud yet, but I truly did love him, and he was all I wanted for the rest of, forever. Maybe now was a good time to start teaching myself that we don't always get what we want from life.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I say sadly. "I can't be with you for the wrong reasons." I tell him.

"Are you, leaving me?" He said it slowly, not breaking eye contact with me. His tone... I couldn't even place it. I don't want to say scared, but I wouldn't rule it out either.

"I haven't yet..." I murmur. I had to look away from him, his face was legit killing me inside right now. "I don't want to..." I add, taking my lip between my teeth.

"Please give me some time. I need to think and figure things out." He concludes. I can tell he's about to transport out, but I grab his shirt sleeve first making him turn and look at me.

"Take your time." I agree with a nod, "But please let Baron go and who ever else you snatched from their home go." I say softer. He didn't reply, and he left after that.

A/N: This story has almost 100 reviews. You guys... Rock. My. World. Thank you!


	15. Chapter 15

"My life has never been this much of a hot, stressful mess. I wondered to myself last night if it'd be better had I not met Finn at all. I'm starting to think just having the dreams would have been a blessing." I admit to Kelly. I'd called into work today, claiming to be sick and now I was propped on the couch talking on the phone the blonde.

"There's a possibility that change will happen." She replies meekly. Really I was just venting, she didn't have any advice to give me.

"It's possible." I sigh. I hear my sliding glass door open and shut and in a matter of seconds Baron is in my living room. Looking pretty rough, but still, he's alive. "I'll see you when you get home from work." I tell her before basically hanging up on her. "Oh my god, you're alive." I sighed in relief. I pushed myself up off the couch and wrapped my arms around his neck, he was stiff at first, I probably took him off guard but after a few seconds he returns the hug.

"They just... Let us go." He says confused. "Like, didn't say anything or nothing, just let us go. I wanted to make sure you were ok." He comments. His finger graze over a place on my arm, and he growled low in his throat.

"It's nothing, and it's fine." I assure him. I know he didn't mean to, but Finn had grabbed me hard when he took me out of the field from Baron's. There was a large purple hand print on my upper arm.

"It's not fine." He argues.

"He didn't mean to." I promise him. He lets out a long sigh, falling down into the couch behind him. "Was Solomon there?" I ask hesitantly.

"Lets go see." He says, standing up and taking my hand. "We'll check his cave."

"Seriously? We're just going to show up? Isn't that a bad idea?" I ask him skeptically. I still allow him to drag me outside though. Right now Baron was probably the only one that I did trust besides Kelly.

"Why would it be a bad idea?." He shrugs. "So it's this tree..." He murmurs walking us through, "And it's really easy, the cave I took you through the first time that goes to my land? Instead of going straight, you go left." He explains as we walked through everything. We come out in what I can only describe as the ending of the movie 'Lion King'. You know when everything has been burned down, and all that's left is the rocks and ruble? Looks just like that.

"Did Finn do this too?" I ask softly.

"Nah, it always looks like this." He answers. "So... we can't just walk in, if he's sleeping he might eat us." He mumbles, mostly to himself but my eyes got wide and my jaw dropped open. i watch him bend over and pick up a rock to toss inside the huge opening to the cave.

"Hold on... What if you hit him?" I hiss at him, putting his hand back down. I take a few steps forward and lean in a little. "Solomon?" i call into the dark. A few seconds pass by and I don't get any kind of reply, "Solomon?!" I say louder.

"I can still throw the rock in." Baron suggests behind me.

"If you throw a rock at me, I'll fuckin' kill you mutt." Solomon's rough voice says from the deep. A few seconds later I see a silhouette appear before Solomon finally fully appears. My eyes look like golf balls when I give him a once over. About where his hips and legs should start was a snake's body instead. I know I'd read what he was weeks ago, but seeing it up close and personal was something else. "Are ya scared, doll?" He says in more of a velvety tone. I'm pretty much frozen to my spot and can only watch as his tail end slides around behind me, before it wraps around my legs and lower body.

"Stop man, you're scarin' her." Baron chuckles, "Finn's already scared her enough to last a few years." He adds. Solomon looks at me, his eyes searching my face.

"Are you scared, doll?" he asks me again.

"A little." I admit. He grip around me loosens, enough that I can pull my arms out from his coils and I rest them on top of the scaly skin.

"What're y'all doin' here?" he asks, looking from me to Baron.

"Shit hit the fan with Finn, he knows... Well pretty much everything." Baron answers him, then nods to me, "She wanted to make sure you were ok." He explains. "I guess I wanted to make sure you were alright to." He admits with an eye roll. He'd leaned himself up against one of the rocks behind him, and crossed both arms over his chest.

"You were worried about me doll?"

"Yes." I answer, like it was totally obvious.

"What are those?" His voice rumbles. The very tip of his tail trails along the bruises on my arm, giving me goosebumps and making me shudder.

"It's nothing..." I murmur, covering them up.

"Those better be from rough sex." There was that rumble again, so deep that I felt it travel through him and into the pit of my own stomach. Baron laughs, and shakes his head. "Who the fuck does he think he is?" Whipping his head around to look at Baron who just shrugs his shoulders.

"He doesn't know that it bruised, it was an accident." I basically repeat what I'd told Baron. I knew I should've worn fucking sleeves today.

"That ain't an accident." Solomon shakes his head.

"Will you please unravel yourself from me?" I ask him quietly, the coils were cold and apart from being kind of creepy it was actually doing something for me. He easily obliges and I watch him morph into human form. "Thank you. I just wanted to make sure you were ok..." I murmur, now a little nervous for being here. "But you're alright, so I'm going to go home now." I nod my head.

"Let me walk ya home, doll." He suggests.

"No worries, Baron is headed the same way." I play it off. I'm not sure I wanted to be alone with Solomon quite yet. I was quite as comfortable with him and his intentions as I was with Baron.

"I insist." He steps in front of me. "I'll get her home, B." He looks over his shoulder at Baron. I screamed at the wolf internally not to leave me.

"I wouldn't leave ya with someone you weren't safe with." Baron assures me, noticing my panicked face. "I'll drop by your house later." He adds, turning and walking away.

"You don't feel safe with me, doll?" He questions.

"I haven't decided." I answer nervously.

"Come on." He chuckles, tossing a muscled arm over my shoulder. "Makes me feel weird to have someone concerned about me." He admits as we walked.

"Do you want me to stop?" I ask, furrowing my brow.

"Nah. I think I like it." He gives me a sideways glance. "This is a weird world you live in." he comments as we walked up through the backyard to the house.

"I've heard that a time or two." I grin at him.

"I'll leave ya here." He says, motioning to my back door. "You know you can come see me any time." He says suggestively, wagging his eyebrows.

"You can come here anytime." I smile, agreeing with him and nodding to my house.

"Ya got a great smile, doll." He winks, "See ya later." He adds before starting off towards the woods again. I pull open my sliding glass door and pick up my phone that I'd let sitting on the kitchen counter. I was hoping for something from Finn, but I hadn't missed anything.

"Would you still love me if you had the choice? Not just because you were basically told it was that way?" Text to Finn.

I hit send before I could give myself a chance to think about not sending it. Part of me really wanted to know, part of me thought he might lie about his answer, and part of me didn't want a reply at all. I thought about it more often than I care to admit. Does he love me only because he has to... Or does he really love me because of me?

"May i come over?" Text from Finn.

"Yes." Text to Finn.

There was instantly a knock on my front door and I pulled it open, revealing him on the other side. His face held so many emotions that I can't even begin to describe him.

"You truly think that I wouldn't love you without the circumstances?" He asks me, tilting his head slightly.

"I don't know..." I shrug helplessly. "If your life wasn't hanging in the midst right now... If we were just dating like regular people, when I told you I'd leave you, would you have cared?" I ask him.

"I can't answer that, because I don't know." He chose his words carefully, I could see them running around in his head.

"Well, guess." I put a hand on my hip. He steps inside, and shuts the door behind him before resting both hands on my shoulders.

"Annabelle. You are everything I want in a woman. You are smart, too smart for both our good, funny, beautiful, you hold high morals and you care deeply about others. All I know is that right now and the rest of my existence where ever I may be, I am in love with you. I love you so much." The fact that he'd just said he loved me out loud, really for the first time, it kind of gave me a little hope. "The choice you are leaving me to make is the hardest of my existence and it's not something I can take lightly. I realize that it is hard to understand, but 650 years of a life style can't just be undone." He explains.

"I feel like now I'm just a burden to you." I sigh.

"You're not." He smiles softly. "You are the only thing that brings peace to my crazy world. The way my land works, I can not just let things go... Some times getting information is a must to save my people. It's hard to understand and a lot to take in." He adds. "I'm trying to make both of us happy so to speak, but I need more time to figure it out." I don't respond, because I was a little annoyed and I hold back my urge to roll my eyes. "You smell like Solomon..." He growled, the mood instantly changing.

"I went to make sure you hadn't killed him." I answer simply. No point in hiding anything from him now I supposed.

"He's extremely dangerous, why would you put yourself in such an unpredictable situation?" He asks me, his hands now gripping my shoulders.

"You've already left bruises on me, could you loosen the grip a little?" I grumble, then immediately regret saying anything about it.

"Where?" He asks. The mood had shifted yet again as a worried look crosses his face. I pull up my tshirt sleeve and show him the hand print he'd left on me from yesterday. "Annabelle... I'm so sorry." He whispers, his fingers lightly running over the blueish color. "I had no intention to hurt you."

"I know." I sigh. I back up a step and walk into the living room, setting myself down on the couch. "Fuck, how did we get here?" I ask him, putting my head in my hands.

"Relationships go through rocky things, this will make us stronger." He assures me, sitting down next to me.

"This isn't a little argument, Finn." I shake my head. "This is a big deal. I'm asking you to change something that like you said, you've been doing for hundreds of years. It could break us." I tell him.

"It won't break us, because I can not lose you." He assures me, palming my face.

"So you're going to stop, give it all up, and let everything go?" I ask in almost a hopeful tone.

"No..." He says shortly.

"Then we're not going to fucking work." I growl at him.

"Why are so you fucking difficult?!" He snarled back at me. His face was inches from my own and he actually spit on my face a little when he yelled. Without thinking about it I took my right hand, and slapped his face. Hard. The sound echoed in the living room. His face stayed turned to the side for a good thirty seconds. My heart beats fast in my chest as I watch the paint start to appear. It was climbing its way up his neck and onto his face. When he was normal, I could usually stand my ground, but I didn't want to face the demon. It was a completely different person than I knew. He slowly looks at me, his blue eyes angry against the black paint. I slink back against the couch, putting my feet up between him and I. I know it wouldn't do much, but if he came at me a good kick would give me time to run.

"Finn..." I say softly. He leans in, super slow, his body and face getting closer and closer. He easily pushes my legs open and crawls between them. My heart was racing, and it only got worse the second he spread my legs.

"You drive me crazy." He says in a low, husky tone. He was now close enough that his breath moved my hair as he spoke. I'm not sure if I should be absolutely terrified, or smirk at him. I was a little turned on, but I honesty did want sex to happen right now. I didn't want him to think he had any sort of control over me... Even if he did. I laid frozen as he took one of my wrists in his hand, pinning it above my head then reaching down and taking my other hand, joining it above my head and holding them there with one hand.

"Finn, stop." I try to sound like I wanted him to stop, but I didn't.

"Shut up." He says. It was a stern tone, he wasn't yelling but it wasn't quiet either. It was more of an, order, or a command. I wasn't into that kind of stuff, but the heat was pooling in my abdomen. His free hand wanders up under my shirt and massages a breast, making me bite back a moan. I give my hands a tug, trying to get them from his grip but it was pretty pointless. "Don't." Was his warning. He easily tore the shirt I was wearing down the middle, exposing my bare stomach and black lacey bra. I gasped and almost came right then. Right then the thought crossed my mind on if I was truly terrified and crying for him to stop, would he? The thought evaporated when his head dipped into the crook of my neck. I failed to hold back my moan when he began to suck and bite at the flesh. The second he heard me moan he released my hands, that automatically went to his neck, pulling him up to my face.

"Fuck, kiss me." I groan against him. Our lips collide and he pushes his tongue into my mouth, exploring every area that he could. I could still feel that he was upset and angry, his anger radiates off him like heat would from a heater. I didn't care. He easily pulled me and I removed the rest of my shirt, pulling my bra down my shoulders as well. There was paint all over my chest and down my stomach were he'd kissed and bit a trail to the top of my shorts. He didn't even waste the time to unbutton them, just yanked them down my legs roughly, his nails scratching my thighs as he did so. "Ouch, you asshole!" I exclaim, using both feet to kick him back a few inches. I say only a few inches because it as about the equivalent as kicking a brick wall.

"Be quiet, and bend over the couch." He says in that stern tone again. I chew my lip, but turn over and brace myself against the back of the couch. I couldn't look back at him. Not because I was embarrassed, but because I didn't want him to have the satisfaction of knowing how much I was actually enjoying this. I feel fingers play up the back of my thighs and to my butt cheek, before he gives it a stinging slap. I bite down hard on the couch. It hurt, but it hurt good. "Sometimes I wish you were this obedient all the time. But then you wouldn't be that amazing, loud, and occasionally problematic woman I fell in love with." He sighs from behind me.

"You're such a dick." I growl at him. He gives my right butt cheek another good, solid slap which made me moan out his name. I immediately recognized my mistake.

"I knew you were enjoying this." I could hear the smirk in his tone. Smug bastard. His hand ran over the heat from the slap and I felt his lips press a few kisses to the spot. I groan into the cushion, fisting the couch fabric in my hands. His fingers glide over my entrance and his thumb starts to circle my clit while he slides one of his fingers inside of me. His free hand slid up my back, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind it and tangled into my messy hair, pulling my head back and arching my back even more. I moaned and ground my hips in a circular motion against his fingers. "So eager." He kisses my left butt cheek before biting it, hard and making me gasp. I wanted him to fuck me. I wanted it so badly at this point, but I still had enough pride that I wasn't about to beg for it. My literally dripping wet core was probably enough to give him that hint anyway. His fingers pull away from my wetness and I hear his pants hit the floor before his tip teases my entrance. He slides it up and down my slit, teases my clit every few seconds. My hips were pushing back against him until he finally sunk his length into me, making me let out a satisfied moan.

"Finn..." I groan, bouncing my butt up and down against him. He was holding himself, still, inside me buried to his pelvis.

"You know, I believe I forgot about a dinner meeting I have." He mumbles to himself, pulling out of me. My mouth drops open and I turn to look at him, failing miserably on hiding my completely astonished face.

"You fucking asshole." I punch him hard in the chest when I saw his smug look.

"Do you want something?" He asks me softly. His face was serious, his eyes held that arrogant look. My lips form a hard line, he wanted me to ask him to fuck me and I wasn't going to.

"No." I shake my head, picking up panties from the floor and slipping them on. He watches, interested. I'm not sure if he thought I was going to stop and change my mind or what. Listen buddy, I have a vibrator upstairs that will at least hold me over for now. "Have fun at your meeting." I shrug, starting for the stairs. He let me make up into my bedroom, I was still topless, holding my shirt and my pants against my chest before dumping them into a clothes basket.

"You're good." He admits, spinning me around to face him. I couldn't hide the smirk on my face, which only egged him on more. He basically threw me down onto the bed, pulling my panties back down my legs and tossing them over his shoulder. He pull my feet so that I'm at the very edge of the bed before easily thrusting himself into me once more. While I had one leg wrapped around his waist, my other was straight up and and was holding it to his chest, biting on the calf every once in a while. He used that leg as leverage to pump into me faster. I was literally a moaning mess, my hands clinging to my bed sheets. He slows down, his fingers massaging my thighs before he lets my leg go to lean down and press his lips to mine. He looks in my eyes.

"I love you." I say softly. There, I said it. Out loud. For him to hear it. My own hands wander his biceps before my nails dig into his shoulders, making him growl into my neck before he pulled back to look at me again.

"I love you too, and had I met you, I would have fallen in love with you regardless of if it were supposed to happen or not." He assures me. I bite my bottom lip, he's still thrusting into me at a steady pace and angling his hips just right so he rubs my clit with each thrust. "Please don't think those kinds of things anymore." He adds. I only nod. He slams into me hard, making me yelp and pushing us up the bed a few inches. "Promise it." He smirks before repeating the assault.

"I promise." I basically moan. I was right on the edge, and I knew he had to be too because his thrusting had become erratic and nonrhythmic. "Fuck... Finn!" I wrap both arms around his neck, holding him close to me as my walls pulsed around his length. He'd grunted himself, he was cumming with me, his length throbbing against my own orgasm. He holds himself on his elbows for another minute or so, catching his breath and littering my shoulder and neck with his soft, gentle kisses. "We need to figure something out." I tell him when he collapses on the bed next to me. He looks over at me, "We have too many secrets from each other. We need to come to some kind of fucking agreement. I need you just as much as you need me." I finally admit.

"We're going to figure it out." He assures me, pulling my body against him with a muscled arm.


	16. Chapter 16

I was at the castle, sitting at one of the long tables eating the chicken and dumplings that Ellena had made for lunch. Finn was here too, speaking with Baramire who would occasionally glance up at me with what I would consider a dirty look, but I couldn't be sure. I mean, I guess he probably was under the impression that I wasn't to be trusted. We definitely weren't ok, and things were still a little bit awkward but he was making a little bit of an effort to still be with me and spend time with me. So after an hour of arguing, he'd convinced me to come to the castle with him for the weekend.

"How is it Lady Annabelle?" Ellena asks with a smile.

"Very good, thank you Ellena." I return her smile. Finn glanced up at me, winking before directing his attention back to whatever he and Baramire were talking about. "What are you talking about?" I ask boldly. Finn looks up at me, and thinks things over in his head before responding.

"We are still trying to figure out, why exactly Baron has interest in the coast." He answers.

"They're probably fucking hungry." I shrug. He tilts his head at me and Baramire scoffs, shaking his own head. "Everyone and everything is just trying to survive, while you're out destroy everything that lives." I shrug. "You might have better luck asking him though instead of playing detective." I suggest.

"They all have one concern." Baramire looks at me. Finn glowers at him, but allows him to speak. "They only want our land, and what's in it." He tries to correct me.

"You're stupid." I shake my head, standing up abruptly. "If you really think that than you're either blind or so arrogant that it makes you fucking blind." I tell him, setting my plate into the bucket.

"You won't speak to me in such a tone, apologize." Baramire states.

"And you won't speak to my woman in such a tone or I'll allow her to choose the punishment." Finn growls his threat to Baramire. I only raise my eyebrows and cock and hand on my hip. I wasn't about to apologize to anyone for fucking anything.

"No one wants to steal what Finn has. What. Finn. Has. Don't think for a second that this land is yours, it's his." I tell him in a snarky tone.

"What 'we' have." Finn corrects me, motioning between the two of us.

"I'll be out with Gannicus." I tell Finn before starting to excuse myself.

"Wait, I'll come with you." Finn says, pushing his chair back. "If you step out of line like that again, I will have to find a suitable punishment Baramire." He warns him.

"Yes, sir." He responds through gritted teeth. Finn's hand is on my lower back as we walked out of the castle.

"You truly think that he's that hungry, that he would travel through another portal to get food?" Finn questions. He'd been watching me play with Gannicus for a few quiet minutes. I glance up at him, and wonder if maybe that icey heart of his is starting to melt.

"I mean I can't say that. I know that he's gone to lengths to find food for the pack before, so I was just kind of guessing." I shrug, giving Gannicus a chin scratch. My little dragon wasn't my little dragon anymore. He was now the same size as Dillon. He would still lay himself in the grass and cuddle with me though. "Can I ask you something and you not get mad?" I look up at him.

"Yes." He nods.

"Why did you let Baron and the others go? When we got back from my parents." I ask him curiously.

"Because it was greatly important to you." He sighs. "I know you'd taken to him, and you'd never forgive me if I'd have killed him. Your happiness is important to me." He states.

"Baron is my friend." I agree, "So is Solomon." I inform him.

"I hate it, so much." He grumbles. "You need to watch your back around both of them. I don't trust either of them." He warns me, his blue eyes staring seriously at my green ones.

"Funny... They tell me the same thing about you." I tell him, earning a scoff. "So... do you want to talk about this and try and find a happy medium with me?" I ask him. "You know I'm not totally opposed to those dungeons right? LIke you haven't even asked me."

"You've made it very clear that you support no such thing." He shakes his head. "You're speaking in circles." He tells me.

"Ok... Yeah I did say that." I agree slowly. "But there's always exceptions to the rules. Like Baramire for example. If you wanted to maybe tie him from the ceiling by his toe nails I probably wouldn't argue with you about it." I shrug and he chuckles, shaking his head. "Seriously though... I mean if they've seriously done something really horrible then we can probably work something out. But Solomon hadn't done anything. You took him because you thought he'd tell you stuff about Baron. That's stupid. But... If he rampages through town, burning families houses to the ground, killing women and children then yeah, tie the bitch up and beat his ass for how ever long." I shrug simply. "You're using the dungeons for, like, your own personal pleasure, and it's a little sickening." I admit.

"I can understand why you would feel that way." He agrees. Just by his face I could tell that he was at least listening to what I had to say, and trying to digest it with a more open mind.

"Have you let anything in the dungeons go back home yet?" I ask hopefully.

"I have not." He answers curtly.

"Why the fuck not?" I exclaim. "I'd like a list of everything down there, and what said thing did to deserve such horrible treatment." I tell him. "And we can decide together what stays and what can go home." I suggest. I thought that was reasonable, couples make decisions together right?

"I don't think so." He shakes his head.

"And you say that I drive you crazy?" I scoff. "You drive me fucking crazy. I can't fucking handle it." I grumble, pushing myself up off the ground. "Go back in your home Gannicus." I say to the dragon currently giving me baby eyes. "Go on..." I chuckle, watching him retreat. He gives my face a nuzzle, shoots a look at Finn, snorts at Finn and retreats back into his space.

"I'm supposed to just, 'let things go'?" He questions, stopping me from walking away.

"Yes. Just let shit go." I say, becoming annoyed.

"You realize that 'just letting things go' as you call it isn't that easy. Do you realize how many creatures I have in the dungeon that actually have committed a crime, horrible crimes, that would have absolutely zero problem rallying an army to come back here and destroy everything I've worked 650 years to protect?" He questions. My shoulders slump slightly, I actually hadn't really thought about that.

"And what of the creatures like Solomon, that you took just to take?" I ask him. We stare at each other for a moment before he finally sighs. His eyes retreat to the grass before back up to my greens.

"I will consider sending them home." He finally agrees.

"None of this considering crap." I put a hand on my hip.

"I will let them go home." He corrects himself. "But one at a time, so they can not conspire against me." He adds a stipulation.

"Fine." I agree. I guess that if you let out a huge group of creatures you've been torturing for however long together... They might rage out against you. I'll give him that one.

"Did we just agree on something?" He asks cheekily.

"We did." I chuckle, leaning into him as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

***...***...***

I was laying across my bed, watching old episodes of some show when Finn flung the door open. He's angry, but it's a calm angry, if that makes any sense. I raise my eyebrows at him.

"What?" I ask him, turning the TV down.

"Will you please... Stop going down in those damn dungeons?!" He started off soft, but the longer the sentence went the louder he got.

"I haven't been in them since Solomon." I furrow my eyebrows at him. "I swear." I add. This time, I was telling the truth. I haven't been back down here. He stares at me for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh.

"Was Solomon, the only one down there you spoke with?" He asks me. His tone was still calm, he was trying to not lose his shit and talk to me as a 'reasonable adult' as I called it earlier.

"Yes." I nod.

"Ok." He states and takes a few seconds to take another breath. "Then please explain to me, why Baramire has found more of these stupid hair pins littered around the dungeons?" He questions, tossing a handful of like 5 or 6 on my nightstand. I stare at them. I didn't know what kind of answer he wanted, because I honestly didn't know.

"I don't know." I shrug. "Maybe Baramire is trying to set me up to get in trouble." I rattled that off before I could even think about it.

"Don't you dare accuse my second in command of such treason" He basically growled from deep in his throat. In my mind, it made sense. If Baramire didn't like me... Which I was starting to get that feeling with how he's been treating me lately, then why wouldn't he plant junk somewhere to try and either get rid of me or get me into more trouble.

"I should be your second in command." Was all I replied with. I was actually getting kind of bitter about that subject. I know it was stupid, but I don't care.

"You're my woman." He corrects me.

"Which should automatically put me second in command, and Baramire, third." I say cockily. "I don't know what you want me to fucking say. I haven't been down there anymore, shit we've only been to the castle that one time over the weekend since all this junk went down." I exclaim, throwing my hands up in the air. "And you had to drag me there." I add, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Why would Baramire wish to get you into trouble with me?" He questions, tilting his head slightly and trying to understand. He also conviently ignored my second in command rant.

"I don't know." I sigh.

"It's rubbish. They must've just been kicked around a little." He makes an excuse for me. Wait, did he actually just believe me when I said I wasn't down there?

"Yeah. Kicked around." I nod slowly. I was thinking 'you're a fucking idiot' but I was trying to make it not look like that.

"Stop that..." He growls. He knew exactly what I was thinking, in the short time we've been together he could read me like a book.

"Someone of yours is trying to get me in trouble Finn. I don't know why, but how else does my junk go from one side of the dungeons to the complete opposite?" i ask him, putting a hand on my hip. "Sorry, it doesn't just get kicked around." I shake my head.

"I'll get to the bottom of it." He assures me.

"Yeah." I grumble. I crawl back into my bed, pulling the covers up over me and up to my chin.

"You don't believe I will?" He questions, raising his eyebrows at me.

"I don't understand why you came in here, guns blazing about this dungeons stuff when you should have come in here, calmly and asked me nicely about my hair pins. You just assumed I was down there." I tell him frustrated.

"Can you blame me for my assumption?" He smirks.

"No..." I mutter.

"Ok." He replies softly. He crawls up the bed next to me and lays down. "What are we watching?" He asks, nuzzling my ear.

"Hemlock Grove." I answer. He replies with 'hmmm?' which was his way of saying, 'what'? "It's a science fiction TV series with werewolves and vampire things." I shrug.

"Science fiction." He chuckles. "There's no such thing." He murmurs.

"In my world there is." I rebut. "I like this show." I grumble at him.

"Ok." I hear the smile in his voice and let out a little chuckle.

***...***...***

"Doll...?" I hear Solomon's voice call into my kitchen from the sliding glass door.

"Doll?" That voice was Finn's, actually that was more of a growl.

"Be nice!" I call from upstairs. I bounce down the steps and walk into the kitchen where both guys were having a stare down. "I'm so proud of both of you. You've been in the same space for 30 seconds and no one is bleeding or dead." I smile between them. "Hey Sol." I greet him.

"Anymore bruises I should see?" Solomon asks with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

"Watch your fucking mouth." Finn rumbles.

"Stop it." I point a finger at Finn, and back him up a step or two. "And you, knock it off. Does your visit have a purpose?" I ask Solomon.

"Nah, not really. Just felt like dropping in and saying 'hi'." He shrugs in response. He glances behind me to Finn, then back to me. "So, hey." He grins.

"Hey." I chuckle. Part of me was glad that Solomon had came by when Finn was here, because I kinda wanted Finn to see him and see that I was friends with him. Icing on the cake would be Baron though. I"m not sure that Finn realizes how close I've gotten with him, he was basically like a brother to me now.

"You're busy with your boyfriend, I won't stay." He tells me.

"Good." Finn mumbles, rolling his eyes behind me.

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I glance back at my demon, who again, rolled his eyes at me but turned on his heel and walked off into the living room. "See you later?" I ask Sol.

"Of course, doll." He nods, already backed out my door a few steps. "Later." He winks before walking off in the backyard.

"I really hate him." I hear Finn say from the living room.

"I know you do." I sigh, leaning against the door frame and looking at him. "So... Are you going to let some creatures go here soon?" I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'll have you know, that I let out 3 yesterday." He shoots back at me. I raise my eyebrows, impressed.

"How do I know that you're not lying to me?" I ask him, this time biting my lip.

"You can come with me for the next round." He shrugs simply.

"I'm holding you to that, and the next round better be soon." I add. I wasn't going to give up on this, letting go creatures that didn't need to be in the dungeon was a deal breaker for me.

"Why did he just show up like that?" He grumbles. He was clearly upset with the fact that Solomon had basically walked in through my back door without so much as a knock.

"Because I said he could, Baron is also allowed to show up at the house. Not like they can freaking call." I explain, "I let you show up at my house." I rebut.

"I'm your man." He states, unimpressed.

"Still." I shrug. "You also showed up in my dreams uninvited for months." I add with a smirk. "They're just my friends, can I be friends with them and you not make a bitch fit out of it?" I sigh, sitting on the couch next to him.

"Fine." Was his short response. "You know I could just get you a snake and you could name it Solomon." He suggests in a playful tone.

"You're such a dick." I laugh, shoving his shoulder.

"You love me anyway." He smiles.

"Ugh. I do." I agree.

A/N: Literally the most boring chapter I've written for this story. Lol I apologize. Bare with me, it'll get better!


	17. Chapter 17

***3rd Person POV***

Finn had left Annabelle at her house for the day. She'd insisted that she had to go to work for the day. He really needed to convince her to live more permanently with him at his castle. Being away from her only made him more irritable. He was moseying his way around the dungeons, doing just as she'd told him to do, and deciding who to be let out next when he walked up on a conversation between Baramire and Jordynian. Both his top men. Neither were aware of his presence back at the castle, so he leaned up against the wall, and listened. He was almost instantly angry.

"The fact that he's letting prisoners go is sickening. All because of a woman." Jordynian comments, throwing around a pair of chains. "It's your fault she's still around anyway." He grumbles at Baramire.

"Excuse me?" Baramire snapped back, "I did my part. Do you know how difficult it was to get those stupid pink looking hair contraptions in the first place?" He asks him. "I don't understand how she got out of it. I don't understand how they even patched things."

"She should be long gone with Solomon and he should be dead from the heart break by now." Jordynian sighs frustrated. Finn was still surprisingly against the wall, clenching his fists together as he listened to the conversation continue.

"The land should clearly be ours. Their love for each other is stronger than we though. We just need to figure something out that is unforgivable." Baramire starts to think about things. "What if we put back everything that he lets go? She's the reason he's going soft. If we put all the creatures back one by one, and she finds out about it, she'd never forgive him. She'll be long gone." Baramire basically chuckled.

"What happens if Finn finds out?" Jordynian asks him, "We'll be killed for sure." He murmurs.

"Killed is being pleasent." Finn murmurs to himself. He crosses his arms over his chest as the two men vacate the armory of the dungeon. He didn't want to admit to Annabelle that she'd been right about Baramire. Honestly he should have seen it coming with how he'd be acting around her the last weekend she'd been here. Well, it looks like it was time to make a promotion soon for one of his men. He'd let her pick who his second in command would be, she'd like that, he may even gain some brownie points for it. He retreats back into the shadows of the hallway, making his way back to the castle.

"Master Balor." Ellena greets him when he walked into the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" She asks, motioning to the food that laid across the stove and counter.

"I am not, thank you." He smiles at her. "But if you don't mind putting some away, Annabelle loves the chicken curry you make, and I like to bring her some tonight." He says.

"Of course." She agrees, "When will she be joining us again?" Ellena asks curiously. She'd taken quite a liking to Finn's intended.

"Hopefully this week. She does love to fight with me about spending a significant amount of time here, though." He sighs, sitting at the seat that was behind him.

"This is all new to her." She replies softly. Ellena was a mother, she understood the hesitation that Annabelle had with all of this. "In three months you've invaded her dreams, invaded her home, her job, her life, you've basically told her that this is how it is to be. She was kidnapped. Found the dungeons, some how managed to find a flaw in your guards to help the snake escape." She chuckle that last part, "You've fought, you've seemingly made up... In such a short period of time I do believe she's done quite well. Give her more time. I'm sure within a years time she will be living her at the castle."

"I suppose you are right, Ellena." He nods.

"Most mothers are." She smiles. He chuckles, and shakes his head. About that time Baramire, along with Jordynian walk into the dining hall. In his head he's plotting their death, but on the outside he's pretending to know nothing.

"Master Balor." Baramire greets him, taking the seat next to him. "We weren't expecting you till the weekend, good to see you home." He says.

"It's always good to be home Baramire." He replies.

"Should we be making plan for anything sir? Perhaps preparing for the battle with the werewolves." Baramire suggests.

"No need." Finn shakes his head. Both men look at him with furrowed brows, "Baron and the pack are no threat to us." He tells them.

"You don't really believe the things that she's telling you. It's just lies that Baron is feeding her!" Baramire exclaims.

"We will take no action, Baramire." He says calmly. "Why don't you gather a group of men and do a perimeter run?" He suggests. To take a group of men around the entire perimeter of his land will take a good week or longer."

"Yes sir." He sighs, shoving the chair back and standing up.

"Thank you Baramire, Jodynian... Most two most loyal men." He tells them, trying really hard to not sound sarcastic. Both men give him a slightly confused looked, but regain themselves quick enough.

***...***...***

"What are you doing, my love?" Finn asks me. He walks up behind me and both hands wrap around my waist as I continued to unpack a few things from my bag. I'd agreed to come here for the week, which is the longest I'll have stayed so far. Usually I just came out for a night or the weekend.

"Unpacking some of this junk." I murmur in response.

"I'm glad you're here." He comments, resting his chin on my shoulder. "I have a surprise for you tomorrow." He smirks.

"Am I going to enjoy said surprise?" I chuckle. I turn around in his arms and look up at him, resting my hands on his chest.

"Well... Maybe." He shrugs.

"That kinda makes me nervous." I look up at him from under my eyelashes. "Nothing bad, right?" I ask. Not like it'd matter at this point, he already had me over here.

"Nothing bad." He agrees and I breath out a sigh of relief. "Would I really surprise you with something bad?" He asks me, "It may be a test though, of things you've said to see what you may actually do." He shrugs simply.

"I didn't understand that, can you reword it?" I ask him. I'm pretty sure I understood all of it, I just wanted to be sure.

"Nope." He shakes his head, dropping his hands from my hips and sitting down in the chair a few feet behind him.

"You're ridiculous." I shake my head. "Will people think any less of you for releasing whatever may be in the dungeons?" I ask him curiously. I sit on the edge of the bed and look at him expectantly.

"It doesn't matter." He shrugs after a moment of thought. "How other's feel about me, doesn't concern me." He states.

"Ok." I murmur, turning back to my things.

***...***...***

"Why are we in this room... For my surprise?" I ask him hesitantly. We were in the one room in the entire castle that had all sorts of midevil looking torture devices in it. I could be a little kinky, but I wasn't this kinky.

"Charille. Dortmoue." Finn greets to men as we walked in. I'd seen them around the castle quite a bit. "Be patient, my love." He tells me. We both turn around when Baramire and Jordynian walk in. Baramire glowers at me, but you could hardly tell. "Baramire. Jordynian. Seemingly my two most loyal men." Finn raises his eyebrows. I cross my arms over my chest and lean up against one of the cages in the room, it was litter with spikes on the inside.

"Sir, was there something we were meeting about?" Baramire asks him, glancing at the other two men in the room.

"I wanted you both present, when I promoted Charille and Dortmoue." Was Finn's simple response.

"I don't understand." Baramire furrows his brows, glancing behind Finn at me for just a second.

"It's recently been brought to my attention that I have two weasels sneaking around my castle." He growled from deep in his chest. This time, it was my turn to raise my eyebrows. The conversation suddenly had my full attention.

"Sir?" Jordynian asks him. I could see the panic cross his face for just a second.

"You see... I came home early about a week back, to check on things as I sometimes do. I happened to be wandering the dungeon when I walked up on your conversation in the armory. I don't believe I remember it all, but the main subject was banishing my existence and Annabelle seemed to be your pawn in all of this." He replies casually. I called it. I knew that someone in this fucking castle was out to get me. "So instead of losing my temper and rage killing both of you, I decided to wait it out until she could be here, so as she may chose your punishment." He smirks at them. "Charille, you're now seco-" He stops mid sentence and glances back at me, "Third. You're now third in command, and Dortmoue you'll replace Jordynian. Your first task will be to arrest both of these men." He motions to the two completely stunned men in front of us.

"I knew you were a dick." I look at Baramire, who was glowering hard at me.

"You, ruined, everything." He snarls at me. I only look at him, completely unimpressed.

"Baramire knew you were going into the dungeons and thought that if he and Jordynian could use that to their advantage, you would leave me. Resulting in my death, and Baramire inheriting my land and my people." Finn explains to me. "So, my love, I apologize for not believing you a couple weeks ago when you brought this up. You were right." He nods curtly. I was in total shock at how calm he was handling this whole thing. "You may do with them, as you please." He looks at me.

"Oh..." I'm now wide eyed, because it wasn't in my nature to be mean or punish anyone. I didn't even know how to go about anything like this. "Can you just put them in jail and I'll think about it?" I scrunch up my nose.

"Of course, a chuisle." He nods. I furrow my brow at the term, I knew it was obviously Irish but I didn't know what it meant. He nods at Charille to take the two away.

"What does a chuisle mean?" I ask him curiously.

"It means, 'my pulse'." He answers simply. "I understand if you're not comfortable with choosing a punishment, I only wanted you to know that if you wanted anything specific it could easily be arranged." He tells me.

"Both of those men have families..." I look up at him.

"They do." He agrees. He could see the torn look on my face. It was obvious that neither guy could be trusted, but I also didn't want to kill anyone or torture anyone that had a family. A wife and children. If anyone did that to Finn, I'd be devastated.

"You can't, banish them? Or something?" I ask him hopefully.

"Now is a perfect time to start introducing you to the decision that I have to make on a daily basis." He starts off. "Yes, love, I could banish them. I could banish them and take the risk of Baramire forming his own army to attack everything we have." He states. I pull my bottom lip between my teeth.

"I'm not capable of making decisions like this." I admit to him.

"I know you are not." He smiles softly. "I only wanted you to see what I'm faced with every day, it's not always a matter of me being cruel and heartless. I also wanted you to see and hear first hand what they had done, and I wanted you to see me handle it in person. I want you to see all of everything that happens here." I fist his shirt in my hands and pull him flush against me, biting his chin playfully.

"You told Charille that he was third in command." I try my hardest not to smirk at him.

"I did." He nods, kissing my forehead. "Because you are my second in command."

"I love you." I murmur, pressing my forehead to his chin.

"I love you too." He tells me. "Now I need to go take care of this mess. If you do happen to think of a punishment you find suitable, let me know." He says.

"Ok." I sigh, walking out of the room with him. A few hours later I'm out in the field behind the castle with Gannicus and Dillon. I'm leaning up against Gannicus's neck in the crook of his neck while he rubs his face and chin in the grass. Dillon is a few feet away, grazing and swashing his tail back and forth every few seconds. "What are you doing?" I chuckle and Gannicus. He only looks back at me with big hazel eyes. "You're a goofball." I boop his nose that he'd stuck in my face.

"Dillon, you handsome boy." Finn greets him, running his hand along his neck and down his back. "You're dirty, she's not brushing you." He glances at me.

"Whatever, I brushed him this morning. He rolled." I glower at him playfully. "You just wait until my dragon can breath fire. You'll only make a snarky comment once before you learn your lesson." I smirk at him. Gannicus snorts at Finn, looking at him with an unimpressed expression.

"Clearly we know where his loyalty lies." He comments, returning the unimpressed look.

"Clearly." I nod. He narrows his eyes at me, trying to hide his smirk. "Will you come in for dinner? Ellena made you something special. She says its... American." He says it slowly, like he's trying to figure it out.

"Ok." I agree. "You stay and be good." I tell Gannicus. I wasn't worried about Dillon going anywhere, since the fencing around the castle was good enough to keep him in anyway. Gannicus though... His wings were starting to mature and even though Finn didn't worry about it, I worried about him taking off.

"He's not going to leave you." Finn insists, lacing our fingers as we walked back to the castle.

"Oh my gosh, Ellena!" I exlcaim, looking down at probably the largest burger I've ever seen in my life. "It's huge, you didn't have to do this for me." I tell her.

"I enjoy cooking anything you enjoy eating." She smiles. "Master Balor doesn't let off on his favorites." She tells me, glancing at him.

"Don't let him fool you, he loves that cabbage and sausage dish you make." I tell her.

"And you?" She asks.

"Not so much. Not that your cooking isn't amazing, I just really hate cabbage." I tell her with a shrug. "But I love this burger, and thank you very much for making it." I smile at her. Later that night we were upstairs in the bedroom, it was getting late. I was leaning against the door frame on the back patio, looking at the jail.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks from the bed. His sexy shirtless self was lying in the bed, one perfectly sculpted arm placed behind his head.

"Baramire and Jordynian." I sigh, crossing both arms over my chest. "What did I do to them? I was always nice to both of them." I say confused. I'll never understand why people did horrible things to other people.

"It had nothing to do with you." He answers. "And everything to do with me. I'm sure that they'd been thinking of ways to get rid of me for a while now, because decision like that are thought up over time. You just happened to be the perfect way to do it." He shrugs.

"Stupid." I grumble, making him chuckle. I retreat over to the bed and straddle his lap, resting both hands on his bare chest. His own hands slide up my thighs and rest on my hips. "I'd like to go see Baron tomorrow." I inform him. He huffs and lets out an annoyed sigh while he rolled his eyes at me. "Seriously? WHy don't you be a little more dramatic about that." I stare at him. He grumbles something in Irish and I continue to stare at him. "WOuld you like me to ask what he wants from the coastal land for you?" I tease him.

"I don't understand what you see in that mutt." He mutters.

"You're going to be busy with Charille most of the afternoon anyway, you won't even notice I'm gone." I smile at him. I lean down and press a few slow kisses to his chest and collar bone.

"I'll notice." He shakes his head. "You could be busy with Charille with me." He suggests. I glare at him, "Alright... I suppose that I can survive a few hours without you tomorrow." He sighs, finally agreeing with me.

"Thank you." I smile, pressing another kiss to his neck before laying down in bed next to him. I'd barely hit the mattress and there was an urgent pounding on the bedroom door. Finn raises his eyebrows and glances at it, not in a hurry to answer the door.

"Come in." He calls.

"Sir. Baramire and Jordynian have escaped from the jail!" Charille exclaims, barreling into the bedroom. I look over at Finn, who looks more frustrated than anything. "It happened during guard change." He explains.

"I have to arrange a search party." Finn sighs looking over at me. "I'll be back." He states. He slides out of bed and closes the back door, locking it. He locked the door... Should I be worried about Baramire coming all up in here? The guy has to know that I'd whoop the fuck out of him right?

"I'll be here when you're done." I sigh.

"I love you. Don't open the door for anyone." Was the last thing he said to me before pulling the door shut behind him.


	18. Chapter 18

The fact that he had told me not to open the door for anyone made me super nervous. I literally had the covers pulled up to my chin, like that would stop anyone from getting at me anyway. Thankfully just about a half hour later Finn came back, making me breath out a sigh of relief.

"Were you worried, my love?" He smirks at me, pulling off his shirt once more.

"Shut up." I groaned as I flung the covers off me. Now I was so hot it was ridiculous.

"I'd rather you didn't go see Baron with those two running around loose." He comments, knowing that comment was going to upset me.

"If they're dumb enough to try and take me from the pack then they deserve what's coming to them." I look at him unimpressed. We stare at each other for a moment, because I wasn't about to back down from this.

"Will you at least let me walk you there and back?" He questions. I huff at him, "The asking is me being a gentlemen, I'm not actually giving you a choice." He adds with raised eyebrows.

"Fine." I sigh. He crawled up into bed with me, wrapping me up in his arms. He was tense tonight, I could feel it. "Your anxiety about this is going to make me a hot mess." I murmur to him.

"I'm sorry." Was his soft response.

***...***...***

"So are you walking me or what?" I ask him the next day. We were in the foyer area of the castle and I was leaning up against the banister of the staircase while Finn spoke with Charille.

"Just a moment, love." He murmurs glancing up at me. I let out an annoyed huff and roll my eyes, we'd been standing down here for like an hour now and I was ready to go. "Alright." He finally sighs, motioning to the door.

"Finally." I grumble. We walk through the village and I couldn't help but think to myself how much I really enjoyed being here.

"Would you object to taking Dillon with you?" He questions. I raise my eyebrows at him, "He's your guardian for a reason." He explains.

"That's fine." I agree. Almost as if he'd been summoned Dillon appears at my side, sticking his nose into the crook of my neck. "Hi, baby." I murmur to him, giving his nose a scratch. I can tell that Finn is uncomfortable crossing over into Baron's portal and as we approached the group a lot them stood up and faced us.

"I suppose you're here for your men." Baron comments, looking at Finn seriously. Finn glances at me and back to Baron.

"No, I came to hang out with you for the day. Baramire and Jordynian are here?" I ask Baron, putting my hand on Finn's wrist. Not like it would hold him back, but I was hoping that it would keep him relatively calm.

"They came through here last night. Figured if you wanted them you'd come for them, I wasn't about to risk my pack trying to return them or nothin'." He states, "They're right there." He points to a hut.

"They're naughty." I smirk at Baron, who glances at Finn.

"Indeed." He growls low in his throat. I lace my fingers in Finn's as we approached the small hut, and he pulls the door open. Sure enough Baramire and Jordynian were basically tethered to chairs and there was a large wolf at their feet. "I thought that would be so much more difficult." He smirks at the two men. "You don't mind if I return my men to the dun-... Jail." He says to Baron looking at me.

"No, by all means take them to the dungeon. If it means it'll hold them down there." I say with a shrug.

"Nah, take 'em. Or, you can leave them and we'll cook up real nice." He suggests and I glower at him. "What? Gotta eat." He shrugs simply.

"I will come for you tonight, my love." Finn tells me, pressing his lips to my forehead then to my own lips. I nod, and watch as he along with the other two disappear from the hut.

"I thought for sure that would turn into some kind of bloody mess." Baron admits.

"So their master plan was to use me against Finn, and they got caught." I shrug as a very, very shortened version of the story.

"So has he figured out who else is helping them?" He questions. I only stare at him, "Please," He basically scoffed, "Two people may have thought that up, but it takes a good handful to execute things like that." He says. "I mean, I could be wrong but I'm betting there are more traitors in the castle than he thinks."

"Great." I groan.

"Don't worry about it." He smiles and throws an arm around my shoulder. "You wanted to hang out with me all day?" He questions, "This is kinda all we do." He says motioning to the fire pit and the group that sat around it.

"I really just wanted to have a relaxing day where I didn't have to make any kind of decisions that affect other people's lives." I admit.

"What's with the horse?" He glances at Dillon who was munching on the grass a few feet away. His ears perked up, and he looked back at us.

"That's Dillon. Please don't eat him." I smirk.

"You don't give me enough credit." he chuckles, sitting down at one of the chairs. I sit down next to him and kick my feet up on one of the logs. "Can I ask you something? And not have you think it's because Finn asked me to ask you..." I look at him.

"Sure."

"What do you want from the coast?" I question out of my own curiosity.

"We're thinking about relocating." Was his simple answer. "It's quite out there, nothing else really lives there besides the natural forest life. This land is starting to have seen its days... It'd have probably been alright for another few centuries but after Finn torching it time after time, it's just kind of, dead." He states. I bite my bottom lip and nod. "That's untouched land, it's how we like it."

"You're not lying to me?" I narrow my eyes at the wolf.

"Nope." he shakes his head. "You wanna help me move?" he chuckles.

"Because you have so much stuff to move." I grin at him. "I was just wondering." I shrug. "Finn was going to send like a whole army over there to figure out what you wanted from their and I was like, it's probably so much more simple than that."

"You're boyfriend likes to make a big deal outta nothing." He tells me. "I mean, I get it though. Sometimes it's not nothing, sometimes it's big and you need to be prepared." He adds quickly. "You wanna see it?" He offers.

"What? The coast?" I ask him, tilting my head.

"I mean, it's better than sitting around here." He says glancing around.

"I mean, I guess. Ok." i agree, pushing myself up out of the chair. It wasn't far, only one portal away. It was gorgeous. Everything reminded me of New Zealand. The colors, the wildlife, the ocean... It was absolutely beautiful. "You better not ruin any of this." I point an accusing finger at him.

"Me? Tell your boyfriend that." he scoffed, playfully smacking my finger away. I sit down at the edge of a lake that was crystal clear.

"Yeah." I agree softly. "Do you think, when you meet that one person that you're supposed to be with forever... That your life is just starting, or ending?" I ask him. He sat down next to me, and gave me a confused look.

"I think that it's a new chapter in the story that is your life. Not a beginning and not an ending." He answers, "Why did you ask that?"

"Everything with Finn makes me think." I sigh, pulling my knees up and wrapping my arms around them. "I know he wants me to move here with him, and I'm sure that eventually I will. It took me a long time but I've accepted that. But where does that leave me back home? My family? Kelly? I mean, there are places that I still want to visit, stuff I want to do and I feel like the second I fully commit myself to Finn all of that just, goes away." I explain to him.

"You know as much as I really don't like this guy I'm sure that's not how it has to be. He'd do just about anything for you, he already has. He ain't about to keep ya from your family... You already know how much slower time passes here, sooner than you realize there won't be anything left for you in that world and you won't think about it much anymore." I blink at him. I hadn't thought about that. Finn is 34 in my world, and 650 here... If I were to fully commit myself to him, marriage and all that, my visiting my family only has so many years left before they start to notice that I'm not aging. "I'm stressing you out. I wasn't trying to do that." Baron says quickly.

"No. No, you didn't." i shake my head. "It just hasn't been something that I've thought about like that and put into perspective." I tell him. "Can you walk me home?" I ask him after a few minutes.

"Of course." He agrees. "Listen, I'm sorry if I upset you or anything." He says to me when we were back on Finn's land. He'd noticed my drastic mood change, and it wasn't his fault.

"You didn't upset me." I offer a small smile. "Thanks for hanging out with me for a while." i say to him, leaning up on my tip toes and wrapping my arms around his neck. He returned my hug but it was little awkward with our height difference.

"Anytime." He smiles, "You know where I'm at." He says before starting back for the tree.

"See you later." I say before giving Dillon a pat on the shoulder and heading back towards the castle myself. I didn't go in right away, just leaned up against my horses shoulder and thought about the earlier topic. I felt a tear fall down my face and I hastily wiped it away, not even realizing that I was starting to cry. "Go, be good." I tell the horses, patting his head one more time before I retreated inside. Finn was literally right there with Charille and he smiled wide when i walked in, which immediately faded when he saw my face. I tried to hide it, but it wasn't enough time.

"What's wrong?" He asks, "Was it Baron?" He asks in a lower tone.

"No." I sigh, "It's nothing, I'm fine." I try to smile. "I'll be upstairs, I need a shower." I say to him, starting my way up the steps. I'd barely made it into out bedroom before he pushed the door open, closing it behind him.

"Annabelle..." He murmurs, turning me around to face him. I'm instantly a mess, holding back the sobs I knew where there and about to come. "Please tell me what's wrong." He presses, "I can't fix it if I don't know."

"It's nothing you can fix." I exclaim, shaking my head side to side.

"What is it?" He blue eyes shown nothing but concern.

"This. All of this." I tell him. "I know you want me to just be here with you, and i want to be here with you. God, I just want to fucking be here with you. But after talking to Baron today like it's not just that easy Finn." I try to exclaim. He's only confused and stays quiet for me to continue. "My family... They're used to me visiting them once or twice a year. If i"m here and I'm not aging... yeah it's not a problem until about 15 years down the line when they start to notice. And Kelly. I can't just leave Kelly behind." I start to cry. "If I stay home and wait until all of these things aren't a problem anymore, then I'll old, you'll still look like this and I know I'll be miserable. But if I come here now I'm giving up all of that, and I don't know if I can." I finally finish.

"I knew this would come up at some point, it's exactly why I didn't want to discuss the 'end goal' as you call it, until later." he says softly. He uses the pads of his thumbs to wipe the tears that stained my cheeks before pulling me against him. "I wish I could make this easier for you, but unfortunately I can not." He murmurs. "There's nothing I can do to make leaving your family easier, but you know Kelly is welcome here."

"I'm sorry... I didn't want to be like this when i got home." I sigh, sucking in a shaky breath.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." He assures me. "Ultimately I want you here with me, for the rest of our existence however long it may be. Annabelle, my love, it doe not have to be right now. None of this has to happen tomorrow. We can work all of this out over the next few years. I'm sure we can work something up."

"My parents are going to die at some point... Will I even be able to go to the funeral if I look exactly how I do now, 40 years from now?" I ask him wide eyed.

"We will work something out. Magic has many purposes." he assures me. "Ok?" He murmurs, pressing his lips to my forehead. "This really isn't anything to get yourself worked up over right this moment, we have plenty of time." He insists again.

"Ok." i finally mumble.

"Go take a shower, calm yourself down." He tells me, his thumb rubbing the skin on my upper arm. I only nodded, pulling the towel from where I'd set it down on the bed a few minutes earlier. "Dinner will be ready shortly." He says leaning down again to kiss me.

"Ok." I say again, dropping my had from his hip and heading into the bathroom.

Things like this didn't just go away in my head. I don't think topics like that just go away in anyone's head. They liked to stick around, eat at you, and make you make horrible decisions at some point later down the road...

A/N: I apologize ahead of time for anything grammatical I missed. I'm tired. Lol


	19. Chapter 19

"What's up doll?" Solomon asks, walking into my kitchen. I was just leaning up against the stove, arms crossed over my chest and staring at the table in front of me. "Whatcha thinkin' so hard about?" He questions, leaning himself over my kitchen counter.

"Hey Sol..." I murmur and glance up at him. "Nothing really, just gone on a mini vacay somewhere." I answer casually. Which was a lie. I hadn't stopped thinking about Finn and my family and all that junk for like a week now.

"You're a bad liar. You sure you don't wanna talk about it?" He asks me. He had his eyebrows raised at me, looking at me expectantly.

"No I really don't." I sigh, pushing myself off the stove. "What are you doin' here?" I ask him.

"You know I was perfectly content to sit in my cave and be a dirt bag ass hole with no friends up until you walked into that stupid dungeon." He mutters with a shake of his head. "Now it's like I kinda want... Friends." He almost cringes at that word.

"Baron is your friend." I furrow my brows at him.

"He's a guy that I've known for 1000 years." He shrugs simply. "We know that if shit hits the fan, we can count on each other to have the other's back. We don't hang out, or talk really, we're not really friends." He tries to explain.

"Oh." Was all I came up with.

"I don't know, lately I've just wanted to see another face every now and then. Particularly yours." He winks. "Where is Finn?" He asks curiously.

"Actually I have no idea." I shrug. "He left early this morning and he might have told me where he was going but I was still half asleep when he left. You know you should stick around sometime, I'll take you to lunch." I tell him.

"I'd rather ya cooked for me," He winks, "But I could do that sometime." He agrees. I wasn't about to cook for him, that was a little too 'romantic' for me, and Finn would absolutely hate it. "See you later? Or you could come back with me." he suggests.

"I can't, I'm in the middle of some work paper word. I'll see you later." I agree with him. He nods, and backs out the sliding door before shutting it behind him.

***...***...***

"You were gone for a long time today." I say softly. Finn had gotten home about an hour ago while I was cooking dinner. I was making spaghetti tonight, I didn't usually make this just because I wasn't a huge fan but I got a weird craving earlier.

"I told you when I left that I'd be with Galloway all day." He answers. His fingers glide along my lower back and he rests his chin on my shoulder. "Smells good." He murmurs, pressing his lips to the shell of my ear.

"Thank you." I reply. "I must not have heard you, I was still half asleep when you left." I shrug it off. He had told me where he was off to, I just wasn't really listening when he'd said it.

"You're so warm, are you sick?" He questions, palming my face.

"No..." I furrow my brows. "But I am standing in front of a hot stove." I tease him and he chuckles.

"I thought you hated spaghetti." He states. He steps a few feet to the side and leans against the counter.

"I was craving it earlier." I tell him, adding more garlic to the sauce. He makes a little bit of a face but shrugs and walks over to the kitchen table to sit down. I put the lid onto the pot and walk over to where he sat, straddling his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck. His own hands came up to sit on my hips while he studied my face.

"You're different." He comments.

"I'm not." i shake my head.

"You are... You've been different since the day you freaked out about the whole time and age thing." He tells me seriously. "Would you like to talk about it?" He offers. He was right, I'd been I don't want to say depressed, but noticeably more sad and down than usual. It'd just been eating at me.

"I really don't." I sigh.

"I'd really like you to not think about it for now..." He murmurs. His thumb was lightly going over the skin on my hip just under my shirt.

"It's not that easy Finn, I can't just pretend that it's not bothering me." I tell him a little annoyed.

"Please don't be difficult about this." He grumbles. He immediate heard his own mistake, but it was too late by that point.

"You're a fucking asshole. Way to be sensitive to your woman's feelings." I growl at him, pushing myself up off his lap and going back into the kitchen. "Maybe you should go fucking home, I'm sure Ellena made something you can eat." I mutter mostly under my breath but I knew he'd heard me.

"I'm sorry, my love." He whispers, walking up behind me. His hands slide over my hips and he spins me around to face him. "That wasn't the right way to go about it. The fact of the matter is you can do nothing about the decision right now. So why worry yourself over something that isn't a worry for many years down the road?" He questions. He pushes some of my hair behind me ear and kisses my forehead.

"You're right." I finally cave. A couple hours later we're sitting on the couch at my house, Kelly was out with some new friends she'd made and we were watching Hemlock Grove on netflix.

"Ugh..." He'd groan every once in a while. Usually during some dramatic scene where the guy would turn into a werewolf. "You guys really enjoy this crap?" He asks me.

"Shut up." I chuckle. "Would you rather watch something else?" I ask him, offering the remote.

"I have no interest in TV. I only watch it because you enjoy it." He declines, pushing the remote back towards me.

"I love you." I sigh, snuggling into his side.

"I love you." He murmurs back.

***...***...***

"What have you done with the two?" I ask Finn a few days later. My feet were kicked up on one of the long dining room tables while he spoke with Charille. I was referring to Baramire and Jordynian.

"They are in the dungeon." He replies but doesn't look at me. He was more focused on whatever it was they were talking about.

"What are you going to do with them?" I ask curiously. I knew that I was totally intuiting whatever they were talking about, but I didn't really care at the moment. He lets out a sigh, and turns to face me, placing both hands on the table in front of him.

"What do you think we should do with them?" He asks me back.

"I think you should hang them in the middle of the town and leave their bodies on display for a week for everyone to fucking see." I shoot back without any hesitation.

"You don't have the guts." He challenges me with raised eyebrows. "If that's what your wish it, I'll make it so." He adds.

"Then do it." I basically growled back. "And do it this afternoon." I add, shoving the chair backwards and standing up. I make a move to walk away but he takes a hold of my elbow and spins me around, his face a little concerned.

"Are you alright, my love?" He asks softly.

"I'm fucking fine." I mutter, putting a hand on my hip. "The guys try to USE me to KILL you, to TAKE OVER." I clarify. "Fucking kill them Finn."

"What's wrong with you?" He furrows his brows. I let out an annoyed huff and pull my arm from his grip. "Annabelle." He says softer.

"Nothing is wrong." I insist. "I'm fine." I tell him, starting for the door again.

"Your mood swings of late are rather appalling." I hear him call to me before I'd made my way out the door. I went out to the field where Gannicus was laying nicely, his head perked up when he saw me and I instantly felt like I was in a better mood.

"Hi baby." I murmur, pressing a kiss to the very tip of his nose. About an hour later I was dozing off against his leg when Finn came walking up to me in the field. I felt like an asshole, but I was a little too proud to apologize for it.

"Hi." He greets me, standing at my feet.

"Hey." I mumble back. My fingers were picking apart a piece of grass that I'd pulled out of the ground a few seconds prior. "So, did you take care of it?" I ask him, biting the inside of my cheek.

"I did not." He shakes his head.

"Why?" I question, glancing up at him. I felt a little relieved that he didn't actually go through with what I'd told him to do.

"Because I know that once you'd calmed down it would destroy you to know you'd made a decision like that." He says, sitting down cross legged in front of me.

"You're right." I nod my head slowly. "I shouldn't have said any of that." I add.

"Please tell me what's wrong? Are you still thinking about all that family stuff?" He questions. His fingers were dancing along my calf muscle, kneading into the skin as he looked at me.

"I don't know." I shrug. "I haven't thought about that in a few days, I promise. I was just, I don't know, in a bad mood I guess." I try to explain. Truth was I had no idea who that was earlier. It was me obviously, but I'd never acted that way ever.

"It was awful." He comments. "I much prefer the sweet, kind bubbly you over that cruel version I saw earlier."

"Really?" I ask curiously. "I thought you might get off on that or something. Like I didn't do it with those intentions, I just thought... I don't even know. Never mind." I shrug.

"I don't." He shakes his head.

"I'm sorry I acted that way." I sigh, "And I'm glad you didn't hang anyone." I add with a smirk.

"Hanging isn't my style anyway, I'm more for the blood and guts." He shrugs, returning my smirk. His fingers grip around my ankle and he easily pulls me away from Gannicus, who whips his head around and snorts at Finn, before he pulled me into his lap and wrapped both arms around me.

"Be nice." I chuckle to Gannicus.

"He's the only dragon that doesn't like me." Finn states, looking at the dragon who was still glaring daggers through him.

"Huh." I shrug, resting my forehead against his cheek. "I'm tired, i think I'm going to go lay down for a while." I tell him.

"May I nap with you?" He asks me.

"Yes." I smile. We were in the bedroom a second later, laying in bed and he was pulling the covers up over us.

***...***...***

"Something is wrong with me Kel." I mutter, tossing my purse up onto the kitchen counter. We went out shopping in Dublin for most of the day and we just getting back in time for dinner. "Like, I'm just not me sometimes. It's really weird."

"You told him to hang people and leave that junk out there a week. Hell no that isn't you." She scoffed. "Maybe all the stress over the aging thing is really eating at you." She suggests.

"I truly, truly haven't thought about that in like a week." I tell her.

"Yeah but what's it called, like subconscious?" She flicked some of her blonde hair behind her shoulder as she leaned herself up against the counter.

"I don't know... I mean, maybe." I shrug. "I just don't understand why that would make me mean like that. It really only happened once, I probably shouldn't even look that far into it." I sigh.

"Any other weird behaviors?" She asks curiously.

"All the time the past week. Like I'll be perfectly fine, then he'll say something or do something or sometimes it's not even him and I'm instantly annoyed or irritated." I admit. "I realize it, then go out to the stables or to Gannicus and I instantly feel relaxed again."

"That's so weird." She murmurs.

"I know. It's probably just a phase, it'll pass shortly I hope." I blow it off.

"Hopefully..." She agrees softly.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Oh... The fluff.

"Kelly, I'm just miserable..." I whine to her from the bathroom floor. I'd been sick literally all day long and had basically set up camp on the cool tile floor. She shows up at the door frame and tosses me a small box. "The fuck is this?" I mutter looking at it.

"I think you should take it." She comments, crossing both arms over her chest.

"Pregnancy test?" I basically scoffed. "I'm not pregnant." I tell her with an unimpressed look.

"You're having mood swings, you're fine one minute and completely depressed the next, you've been sick the past few days... I can't believe Finn hasn't even thought about this." She explains. I wasn't quite ready or willing to admit that she could be right about this.

"He doesn't know I've been sick." I sigh, leaning my head against the tub. "I'm usually ok by the time he gets home at night." I tell her.

"Take the test. Just humor me." She says, "If it comes up negative than we'll figure something out from there." She states, pulling the bathroom door shut behind her. I sigh and look down at the box again. Finn and I have discussed marriage, but not children. Shit, I don't even know if he wants kids. What if I was pregnant and he didn't want it? I tore open one of the packages and shove my pants down my legs.

"When I get done with this you're going to explain to me why the hell you have pregnancy tests on hand." I call out to her while I did my business. I set the test on the back of the toilet and retreated back out the door. "Says it takes two minutes, I can't just sit in there and wait." I sigh, leaning against the wall.

"Remember Dwayne?" She asks me and I nod. He was one shitty ass ex boyfriend she's had when we lived in Florida. "I have them from him." She shrugs simply.

"We haven't talked about kids." I murmur, rubbing my hand along my other arm and glancing down at the floor.

"He isn't going anywhere." She assures me. "Go check it." She adds nodding towards the bathroom. With a heavy sigh I walked back into the bathroom and look down at the little pink plus sign. I almost passed out at the sight of it.

"And I'm terrified..." I admit softly, showing it to her.

"Ok well on the plus side now you know why you've been acting so ridiculous..." She says trying to lighten the situation a little bit. "Don't be scared. You have nothing to be scared of." She tells me. We both glance at the steps when the sliding glass door opens and closes. "One of your friends is here." She grumbles. Kelly hated that Solomon and Baron just let themselves in, they've both given her a heart attack on more than one occasion.

"Annabelle?!" Baron calls out from the kitchen.

"I"ll be down in a second." I call back to him. I shake my head, "I don't know how I'm going to fucking tell Finn this." I tell Kelly, shoving the test in the drawer of my nightstand. I retreat downstairs and find Baron in the kitchen, with the fridge door open. He almost looked confused as he focused on the contents inside. "What are you doing?" I chuckle.

"What is this crap?" He furrows his brows motioning at the whole fridge.

"Food ya dork." I tell him, punching his shoulder lightly.

"Solomon said you were acting funny the other day." He comments, shutting the fridge door and looking expectantly at me.

"I've had multiple panics in the past 2 weeks." I sigh my admittance.

"About what?" He tilts his head, seemingly interested.

"Remember when I told you that the comment you made about my family and time and age didn't bother me?" I ask him and he nods, already starting to get it. "Well it apparently bothered me a lot. I had a major meltdown." I tell him.

"I shouldn't have said that." He says. His rakes a hand through his hair before running it down his face. "I'm sorry." He adds.

"Don't be. It was something I'd have to think about sooner or later." I shrug. "And... I'm freaking pregnant." I sputter out. His eyes get wider and he takes a minute to digest what I'd just told him. "We haven't talked about this... I don't know what to do. What if he gets upset?" I ask Baron.

"Why would he get upset?" He asks confused. "It takes two people to reproduce." He lets out a little chuckle.

"Baron, am I going to spawn a little demon baby?" I ask him with my own wide eyes. "What if I'm birthing the most evil thing your world has ever seen? Holy shit." I mumble. All these thought were hitting me at once.

"Calm down." He murmurs, putting a soothing hand on my shoulder. "You're not going to give birth to a demon baby. Well, that's a lie because Finn is a demon but that doesn't mean that your baby is going to be evil." He tells me. "Where's Finn?" He asks curiously.

"I don't know. Working? Probably." I reply. "He'll be home soon. I've been a pretty ridiculous bitch the past couple weeks, I can't believe he's even still around." I scoff.

"You're going to tell him tonight right? You can't keep that from him." He says to me very seriously.

"I don't know what to say." I tell him almost defeated.

"That your pregnant." He says simply. "You can't exactly sugar coat that. He'll probably be excited and you're having this hot mess over nothing." He tells me.

"It's just that easy?" I ask him.

"It's that easy, sweet heart." He nods. He presses a soft kiss to my forehead. "I'm not quite equipped to deal with issues like this." He admits with a soft laugh.

"You did great." I smile at him.

***...***...***

"Should I hang someone tonight?" Finn asks with a wink. We'd just woke up and I was literally holding back being sick. I'd been nauseous for an hour now, I still hadn't told Finn about the baby and I felt like I was going to explode.

"Not funny." I grumble at him. I had the covers up to my chin, watching him get dressed for the day.

"I'm only teasing you, my love." He smiles, sitting on the edge of the bed and running his fingers through my hair. "Are you going to get up soon?" He asks me.

"I don't know. Maybe." I shrug. "Can I talk to you before you go do whatever you're doing for the day?" I ask him, biting hard on my bottom lip.

"Of course." He nods. I'm silent for a good 60 seconds just trying to figure out how to spit it out. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." He assures me, "I love you." He adds, resting his hand in the space between my shoulder blades.

"You know how I've been acting weird lately?" I ask him.

"How could I forget?" He chuckled, "You're mood swings lately are intense." He states.

"I've been getting sick too... I"m sick right now. I'm always fucking tired, too." I start off, trying to read his face to see if anything is registering with him. Not yet. "I'm pregnant." I finally sigh softly, glancing away from him. He's completely silent, so silent that I have to look at him just to make sure he was still in the room with me. He's staring at me, his blue eyes intense and focused on my green ones.

"Are you sure?" He questions calmly.

"I took a test." I nod. When he didn't respond right away I hung my head slightly, staring at the floor and chewing furiously on the inside of my lip. Another few seconds pass and I feel his strong arms wrap around me before pulling me into his lap.

"I love you." He murmurs against my hair. I let out a breath of relief, which didn't go unnoticed. "What did you think was going to happen?" He questions, pulling back to look at me.

"I didn't know..." I admit. "It wasn't exactly in our plans." I sigh.

"We've used zero protection since I met you. It's been in our plans." He chuckles, arguing lightly with me.

"I meant that we hadn't talked about it." I grumble at him.

"You worry too much." He smirks at me.

"I do not." I scoff.

"You do." He chuckles. "It isn't new knews that I want you for the rest of our forever. That includes children." He tells me. "And for the record... I will not pull a Zeus and eat our children if I feel threatened." He jests playfully.

"Oh my god." I look at him astonished.

"I'm joking with you, my love." He smiles.

"Stop..." I basically whined, only to have him put a hand over my mouth.

"Don't make that awful noise." He says, making a face. He's still being playful with me. "I suppose you'll need to see a doctor soon." He states, gliding his fingers down the front of my shirt and down my thigh.

"I suppose I will." I agree. "But I need to be sick first..." I add, quickly sliding off his lap and making a mad dash for the bathroom. I slammed the door shut behind me, and just barely made it to the toilet in time.

"Are you alright?" He calls from the other side of the bathroom door. I can't even stop long enough to answer him. "Annabelle?" He asks again before the door knobs swivels and he comes inside. He takes up a perch on the side of the tub and moves my hair out of the way before soothingly rubbing small circles along my back. "I don't have any experience with pregnancy... I don't know what to do for you." He tells me nervously. "I don't have experience with babies..." He adds thoughtfully.

"I'm not exactly experienced either, but I'm good with babies." I finally manage to respond. I rest the side of my head against his knee as he continues to massage my back.

"We're going to figure it out together." He says softly and I only nod. "Are you hungry? I'm sure that Ellena will know what to give you that may help. She has 4 children." He suggests.

"I know if I eat, I'll just get sick." I reply.

"You can't not eat, Annabelle." He almost growled at me.

"I know..." I sigh, pushing myself up and standing again.

"So, am I the last to know?" He raises an eyebrow at me. I bite my bottom lip, hard enough that it make me flinch. "Yeah..." He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry." I murmur. "I didn't even think about pregnancy, honestly. It was Kelly. She basically threw at test at me the other morning." I explain to him. "And don't get mad." I warn him, lacing my fingers in his as we walked downstairs. I'm only met with a skeptical look. "Baron knows too... He came over that day and i was having a panic attack about having a demon baby." I murmur a little ashamed.

"You are having a demon baby, my love." He smirks at me.

"I know..." I nod my head from side to side. "I just- There's were... Are, so many what ifs going through my head that I can't think straight sometimes." I admit to him.

"We're going to talk about all of those, but after you eat something." He replies. "Ellena." He smiles at her.

"Master Balor and Lady Annabelle!" She exclaims happily. "What would you like for breakfast?" She asks, looking at us expectantly.

"Ellena, Annabelle is pregnant." He tells her so casually.

"That's excellent news!" She grins. Then she thinks for a few seconds, "Oh no, sweety are you feeling sick?" She asks, rushing to me. She palms my face and looks at my color.

"So sick." I admit to her, earning a worried look.

"Let me make you something that will help with the sickness." She nods quickly, retreating into the kitchen.

"As I said, Ellena will take care of it." Finn smiles, sitting down at one of the long tables. "Sit down." He murmurs, pulling out the chair next to him. I do as I'm told and take a seat in the chair. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking that a baby makes things a lot more complicating that it was." I sigh. His eyebrows furrow. "I can't not tell my parents I'm pregnant. They're going to expect to see the baby at least once a year..." I rattle off. He sighs and I glower at him.

"Stop. Please stop worry about this aging crap." He says seriously. "Once enough time passes that you need to look older we'll use magic. The baby will grow as a normal child would until he or she is 18 years old, he or she gets that from your human side, once that times comes we can worry about it then." He explains.

"Ok." I take a deep breath.

"What else?" He questions, glancing at Ellena when she walks out from the kitchen. She sets some food down in front of me, it was green but it smelled delicious. She also set a drink in front of me, that was also green.

"If you drink this right away when you wake up in the morning, it should keep the sickness at bay." She explains, "The food is just something nutritious that you shouldn't have an issue keeping down, it should smell good too." She smiles.

"It smells amazing." I sigh happily. He lets me take a few good sized bites before starting in on me against.

"Tell me what else?" He asks, taking a sip of his drink.

"There's nothing else right now." I lie. He raises his eyebrows at me, "Finn... Really, I'm just concerned about my family." I say.

***...***...***

"How was the doctor appointment?" Kelly asks. Finn had gone with me. He mostly stared hard at the floor the entire time the doctor messed with me. It clearly made him uncomfortable to have anyone else touching me, especially in that area.

"It was gross." He comments, making her chuckle. "He stuck about 10 inches worth of magic wand up there." He scrunches his nose, looking at me.

"Yeah, that was a little uncomfortable." I admit with a shrug. "But everything is fine, I'm early. Only 6 weeks along. The due date is October 21st." I tell her.

"That's exciting." She grins.

"I thought I was going to be the one getting sick." He admits, pulling a water out of the fridge. We don't do all that flamboyant stuff at home, the baby cooks itself and a home nurse helps you deliver." He tells us.

"I'd like to deliver in hospital." I tell him.

"That's fine, my love." He smiles. "Whatever makes you feel most comfortable is what we'll do." He adds.

"Good answer." Kelly tells him.

"No kidding." I chuckle, pressing my lips against his quickly. His hand runs over my hip to my butt before he gives one of my cheeks a pinch. "Ouch! You dick!" I laugh, jumping to the side a good foot.

"You liked it." He chuckles.

"I did." I agree with a smile.


	21. Chapter 21

"Finn..." I groan, leaning my body into him even more. His lips were latched onto my neck, sucking and biting at the skin. We were standing in line at one of the local retail stores because I'd decided I needed more sweatpants than what I owned. They were really the only thing that I found comfortable anymore.

"Mmmm, yes? My love." He murmurs against my hear.

"Stop it." I chuckle. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, and he was definitely enjoying himself. "I just want a good bra..." I mumble as we walked our way through a Burlington a little bit later on.

"You have a million bras." He basically scoffed. "That you never wear." He adds looking at me unimpressed.

"There's a reason I don't wear them. They're uncomfortable." I say matter of factly. He only rolls his eyes, following me to the dressing room. "Why don't you come in here with me and tell me if it looks good." I suggest in more of a seductive tone.

"I would never let you buy a bad bra." He agrees easily, smirking as he shut the door behind him. I jumped right on him, pushing him up against the dressing room door and kissing down his jaw line and over his neck. "Annabelle..." He chuckles, his hands sliding across my waist.

"How long do you think it's socially acceptable to be in here?" I ask quickly, biting his collar bone. That action made him gasp softly, and it was enough to push him into gear too. He easily pins me to the wall, and his hand slips into my sweat pants. I let out a little satisfied moan when his fingers brush over my clit over my panties.

"You gotta be quiet." He tells me seriously. This wouldn't even be an issue right now had he not sucked the sweet spot on my neck for 5 minutes in line earlier today. He pushes my panties off to the side and his middle finger easily finds my clit. I was already slick with my own juices, which only intensified the feeling of his rough fingers over my sensitive skin.

"Oh god..." I groan softly, rolling my head back against the wall and pushing my pelvis into his hand more. He begins slowly circling my clit, every once in a while dipping a finger inside me. My hands fist into his shirt and I bite down on his shoulder to help keep myself quiet. After a moment he slips a finger inside of me followed easily by another and begins pumping at a steady pace. "Don't stop." I sigh.

"I had no intentions of stopping." He growls. We locked on to each other's eyes, his were dark and filled completely full of lust which only turned me on more.

"Fuck!" I gasp, gripping his bicep. After another minute my knees basically buckled and I came in a flood over his fingers. It was so intense that I could feel my own muscled pulsing. "Good god." I say softer, my whole body relaxing against the wall. He only smirks as he pulls his hand out of my pants, and backs up a step.

"By the way, I quite like that bra." He adds making me shake my head. "Do you at least feel better?" He questions.

"Yeah, a little." I nod. It indeed took of the edge of the pressure I was feeling. "Lets go home. I'm hungry." I say suddenly.

"For what?" He asks, taking the bra from the wall. "Seriously though, do you want this?" He asks me and I nod 'yes'.

"Chocolate ice cream, cookie dough, and bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos." I answer simply.

"Gross..." He mutters and I whip my head around, glowering hard at him. He quickly responds with, "Um, where do we get bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos?"

"TGIFridays. There's one on the way home." I tell him. We pay for the bras, and socks that I decided I needed as well. "I'm tired." I sigh, closing my eyes against the seat. "What are you doing?" I ask him, when he pulls his phone out of his pocket.

"I was going to call TGIFridays and order your food." He answers easily.

"No don't. I'm not hungry." I shake my head. He looks at me, in sheer confusion.

"You were hungry 10 minutes ago." He mumbles in a softer tone.

"And now I'm not." I shrug.

"Alright." He answer.

"Thanks for going shopping with me." I murmur after a few minutes.

"You're welcome." He smiles. His fingers find my own and he laces them together, setting my hand and his on my thigh.

"Oh my god!" I exclaim, making him tap the breaks quickly and look at me with wide eyes. "Taco hut! Will you please stop. I want tacos." I tell him. With big eyes and raised eyebrows he only slows down and makes the right turn into Taco hut, pulling into the drive thru.

"What would you like?" He looks at me.

"Uhm... 3 tacos, without lettuce or tomato..." I murmur, leaning over him to look at the menu. "A coke... some of those little cinnamon ball thingies... and a churro." I rattle off.

"Will that be all?" A voice comes through from the speaker.

"Are you hungry?" I look at him. He's got a giant grin on his face, and only shakes his head 'no'. "That's all." i tell him.

"I'll have your total at the window, pull around." He responds. We pay, and the guy hands over a grocery sized bag full of what I'd ordered. He pulls into the driveway just as Kelly is coming out the front door. "I have the bags." He tells me, making a grab for the taco hut bag.

"Yeah if I were you, I wouldn't fucking touch this." I basically growl at him. He shrugs, and slips out of the car to the trunk.

"Where ya headed?" I ask Kelly.

"I'm going out with a couple girls from the office. You want to come? We're going to a local pub, but it's a grill too with food." She adds that part quickly, so i wouldn't get turned off by 'pub'.

"No, thanks." I smile. "Have fun." I tell her, starting towards the house.

"See you guys later!" She calls back. I head into the house and toss the food into the fridge. When I turn around FInn is standing there, glancing between myself and the refrigerator.

"What?" I ask him, putting a hand on my hip.

"Nothing." He shakes his head.

"Fuck you. I know what you're thinking." I grumble. "And no, I don't know if I"m hungry. I know that those tacos smell fucking awful. When he handed the bag to us, they smelled like fresh flowers. I'll kill everything." I tell him, rolling my eyes.

"Ok." Was all he responded with.

"What?!" I snap at him.

"I said nothing, my love." He responds very calmly.

"But your fucking thinking shit, why don't you just fucking keep quiet?!" I basically snarled at him.

"My my, you are feisty aren't you?" He smirks at me. My initial thought was I just wanted to smack that stupid smirk right off his face.

"Take off your fucking shirt." I tell him, which actually makes him draw back and stare at me. "I said take off your damn shirt, Finn." I say again. After a few more seconds of shock he does what I said, and pulls his tshirt slowly up over his head, tossing it onto the counter. All my arousal came in a flood, pooling in my lower abdomen. The washboard abs, defined chest, and those veins that peeked just out of his pants did it for me. "What the fuck Finn?" I ask him, motioning to his chest.

"You see something you'd like?" He continues to smirk at me.

"I'm about to fuck that smirk right off your face." I tell him seriously.

"I'm going to bed you over the couch and fuck you raw." He shoots back, making me visibly shudder. He spins me around to face the counter, effortlessly pulling my shirt up over my head, leaving me in my sweat pants and sports bra. "I'm not particularly fond of this bra." He says, unhooking the clasp that was in the front at the plunge area of my breasts and dragging it down my shoulders. It didn't matter where he touched me, it left my skin literally on fire and aching for more attention. I turn back around and my fingers immediately go to work on his pants, pulling apart the belt that he was wearing.

"Slow down..." He chuckles, "I'm not going anywhere." He assures me.

"I don't want it slow." I reply simply, unbuttoning his pants and basically shoving them and his briefs down his legs. He kicks them off, his length at attention against my thigh.

"Ok." He easily complies. He leaves a trail of bites and kisses down my stomach and over the top of my sweat pants before tugging them and my panties down my legs. "Jump up." He says, wrapping his arms around my waist. I didn't need any more encouragement than that, and jumped up wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. With a simple rotation of his hips all 8 inches of him sank inside me.

"Finn!" I gasp. He bails us into the living room and without breaking out contact lays me down on the couch. He gave me zero warning before slowly pulling nearly all the way out before aggressively snapping his hips back up against me. His fingers kneaded a breast as his assault continued. Goosebumps formed on my arms as his tongue traveled over my neck and ear. "Ohmygod..." I groan reaching my own hand down between us to play with my clit.

"No." He shakes his head, pulling my hand back up and pinning it above my head. I only stare at him in shock.

"Finn I need to cum." I almost cried. The pressure was absolutely killing me.

"When you cum it's going to be because I built you up to that." He tells me, "You'll feel much better that way." He adds. He pulls out and pulls me up, bending me over the arm rest of the couch before reentering from behind. My hands find a pillow that I pull towards me. I moan loud into the fabric, pushing myself back against his thrusts.

"Fuck, can't you go any harder?!" I ask him, flinging my hair over my shoulder to look back at him. "I know you can do better than that." I egg him on, making him smirk back at me. His fingers snake up my back and into my hair pulling my back into nearly a perfect 'U' I was arched so much. His movement were quick and hard, but he hardly left contact with my own skin we were so close. "Oh my god!" I basically yelled, reaching back and grabbing a handful of skin on his hip. I literally almost blacked out from the intensity of my orgasm. It made me scream into the pillow, my body got all tingly and my muscles clamped down on his length making him grunt in response. After that every stroke made my body shake, or spasm until he finally poured his own release into me. I was limp against the couch, and he was panting for air behind me. "That was like, the best sex so far." I tell him honestly.

"Am I a bad boyfriend if i agree with you?" He questions, "Though the make up sex was pretty great too." he adds thoughtfully.

"Not as good as that." I admit. "Oh my god, get off me. You're body heat is making me sick." I say to him, pushing his body away from me. He chuckles, backing up a few steps and into the kitchen to grab his clothes. "Grab my tacos while you're in there! Please!" I call to him, crawling my naked frame up into the couch. Kelly would have a cow. She'd never sit on this couch again.

"Oh, now you're hungry?" He laughs and I hear him pull the bag out of the fridge.

"You want some of this?" I offer to him, spreading all my food out on the coffee table.

"Are you going to eat naked?" He questions, looking my body up and down.

"I was planning on it." I nod.

"You're getting cum all over the couch." He says simply. I glance at it, he was right. "How are you going to explain that to Kelly?"

"I'm going to hope she doesn't notice." I shrug, shoving half a taco into my mouth. "If she asks, I'll whip a lie out of my ass." i add with a full mouth, making him chuckle. "It's leather, it'll wipe off." I literally eat everything that was on the coffee table, and he looks at me expectantly when I lean back into the couch with a sigh.

"What?" He smiles.

"We should have gotten chocolate ice cream."

A/N: As much as I tried to write something with some kind of storyline substance, I just ended up with smut. So be it. lol


	22. Chapter 22

"Hey Sol..." I murmur, glancing back at him from my spot in the kitchen. I was making whatever it was that Ellena had given me to put into my own meals. "What are you up to?" I ask him. He leans up against the counter next to me, taking in the smell of the bacon I had in the pan.

"Just came to visit you. Baron told me you were pregnant." He explains, glancing down at my stomach then back up to my eyes.

"I am." I nod. "Are you hungry?" I ask, motioning to the food in front of me.

"Sure." He smiles, brightening up a little bit.

"You want to stick around for a few hours and hang out with me? I don't mind some company." I say to him. That seemed to brighten him up even more.

"I'd like that." He agrees. So a little bit later I was perched with Solomon on the couch and we were both munching happily on some pancakes, eggs and bacon while watching Orange is the New Black. "I don't understand any of this." He tells me honestly.

"Ugh..." I groan, rolling my eyes. "Between you and Finn I can't just watch TV in peace. Maybe I'll just put on the National Geographic channel." I sigh.

"What's that?" He questions with a raised eyebrow.

"It's just, nature really." I shrug.

"Did you want a baby?" He asks after a few minutes. His tone was very quiet, and almost cautious. I glance at him, he's staring intently at me.

"I guess I don't really know." I answer honestly. "I'm not mad or anything. It wasn't exactly something I was expecting to happen so fast, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised about it." I tell him.

"But is it what you want? Tell me what you want?" He presses.

"I want Finn." I shrug simply. "And everything else that comes with him, so yes, that includes children." I smile.

"That's what I wanted to know." I returns the smile. I glance at the door when I hear it open and shut, and a few seconds later Finn is standing in front of both of us. "Hey." I grin at him, happy to see him back sooner than later.

"What is this?" Finn asks motioning between us.

"It was breakfast and the National Geographic channel." I sigh, pushing myself up off the couch. Just by his tone I could tell that this was already about to be a fight. "Is that a problem?" I ask him a lower tone.

"Yes." He growled back, glaring at Solomon. "How long have you been here?" He glowers. Sol glances between the two of us, and takes the route of not answering at all. Instead he pushes himself up from the couch, stands chest to chest with Finn for 10 or so seconds, and retreats towards the back door.

"See ya later doll." He calls to me.

"Bye, Sol." I reply, putting the dirty dishes in the sink.

"I'm not comfortable with him being here." Finn tells me, leaning his frame against the kitchen wall.

"Why him and not Baron?" I ask curiously, turning around and cocking a hand on my hip.

"I don't like him either." Finn grumbles. "Baron isn't trying to seduce you, Solomon is." He tries to reason.

"You're so full of shit." I basically laughed, making him even more angry.

"I don't want it to happen again." He stands his ground.

"Each shit, Finn. I do what I want." I say calmly, going back to doing my dishes.

"We're not finished discussing this." He tells me, spinning me around by my elbow. "Why can't you just fucking trust my instincts for once and not question me?" He rumbled with intense blue eyes.

"Because they're not your fucking instincts. It's you being a dick just because you don't like someone." I pretty much snarled back at him.

"He'd take you from me in a second if you gave him the chance!" His voice going up more and more as our argument escalated.

"I'd never give him a fucking chance!" I shouted back, "Why don't you try trusting your woman for fucking once. I'm over this fucking attitude you have about Solomon and Baron. Get the fuck over it Finn, or figure out a way to get the fuck over it because I'm over it!" I yelled.

"Perhaps I should lock you in a castle room, at least then I'd know where you were." He grumbles, as he retreated into the kitchen. I know that was his way of putting up the white flag and caving to our argument but it really only made me angrier.

"Don't you walk away from me Finn Balor." I say seriously.

"Or what?" He asks in taunting tone, walking back into the kitchen. He was only a few inches from me now. "You're too well mannered to go through with anything drastic." He basically laughed at me.

"You make me, so fucking angry." I tell him frustrated. I put both hands on his chest and go to push him just as I had done many times before only this time was different. Instead of only pushing him back and inch or two, the next thing I knew his body had slammed against the dining room wall and his was on the floor staring up at me in shock. "Oh my god!" I exclaim. My hand covers my mouth and all I can do is stare at him, staring back at me. He was just as surprised as I was. "I'd like to say I'm sorry, but I'm still kind of upset with you." i say softer.

"Annabelle..." He murmurs, pushing himself up onto his feet again. I was a little scared, because I wasn't sure how he was going to react to what just happened.

"Stay over there." I warn him, putting up my hand and stepping to the side so the kitchen island was between us. Hurt laced his features. I don't really think that he'd ever put a harmful hand on me, but pregnancy hormones will make you think crazy shit. We both watch in sheer awe as a small flame begins to creep along my kitchen counter towards him. "Holy shit Finn! Don't set my fucking kitchen on fire!" I shout at him, looking up at him frantically.

"That's not me, my love." He replies calmly, taking another step towards me.

"I said to stay fucking over there!" I snarled, and the flame grew so high it nearly touched the ceiling.

"Annabelle." There was that soft tone again, He glanced at the fire. "You need to take a few deep breaths and calm down." He tells me, backing up a couple of steps. At this point I'm a hot, panicked mess and instead of the deep breaths I turn on my heel and retreat out of the kitchen, taking the steps two by two until I've locked myself in my bedroom.

"What's wrong with me?" I whispered to myself, sitting on the edge of my bed. I pushed the hair from my now sweaty forehead, every inch of me was sweating like crazy right now. The palms of my hands felt like they were on fire, and my stomach was hot as well. About an hour later there were a few light knocks on me door.

"Annabelle?" Finn murmurs softly from the other side. "May I come in, my love?" He questions.

"Yes." I answer. I hadn't moved from the edge of the bed and was absently staring at the floor. My eyes found his blue ones when the door opened and he stepped inside.

"Are you still angry?" He asks, tilting his head at me.

"No." I reply honestly. He walks over and sits down next to me, his fingers grazing along my thigh and he presses his lips to my shoulder and my cheek. "What's wrong with me?" I ask him.

"Nothing is wrong with you, my love." He smiles. "It's extremely rare. The child carries many powers of my own. When you're upset, or frightened the child can feel those emotions. He or she transfers the abilities through your connection to protect you. When you calm down, the baby calms down. When you're not feeling threatened, neither is the child." He explains to me. "Do you understand?"

"That was horrible." I reply honestly. "I lit my fucking kitchen on fire." I tell him unimpressed, making him chuckle.

"I put it out, and there's no noticeable damage. Just don't do it again." He winks.

"Don't piss me off again." I raise an eyebrow at him. "Looks like the only thing that can match your powers, is sitting in my stomach right now. So I'd watch what you say to me from now on." i tell him playfully.

"Clearly." He agrees. He'd never admit it, but I could see that fact register on his face. The fact that right now, I was literally just as powerful as he was, intimidated him a little bit.

"Did I hurt you?" I ask softly. My eyes scanned over the parts of his body that I could see. I'd never forgive myself if I'd ever actually hurt him.

"No, my love. You did not." He assures me, squeezing my thigh. "Why don't you throw some stuff together and we'll go to the castle for the weekend?" he suggests, flashing me a smile.

"Ok." I agree. "I'm really hot." I tell him, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"It's a side effect of the fire." He explains, "It will pass as you continue to calm down. Eventually you'd be able to control it, but by the time you master that the baby will be nearly full term."

The whole length of this pregnancy just got a whole hell of a lot more interesting.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: This chapter is for my Ana. She's my sister and I love the crap outta her. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

"Do you want this?" I ask Finn, offering a plate of food to him. He'd been sitting on the couch for the past hour, staring at the dark screen of the TV. That happened to be off. He glanced up at me when I basically shoved it into his face, "What's wrong with you?" I question.

"Why haven't you told your family that you're pregnant?" He responds back. I bite my bottom lip before turning on my heel and walking back into the kitchen. "Annabelle...?" He questions seriously. He leans himself up against the counter next to me, watching as I made myself a plate.

"I'll tell them." I assure him, finally looking up into those blue eyes that looked so confused.

"That's not what I asked." He states. His arm wraps around my waist, preventing me from walking away from him into the living room. "I want to know, WHY you haven't told them." He repeats.

"I just haven't gotten around to it." I lie as best as I could. I'd dept eye contact with him, hoping that would help the lie a little bit.

"Stop." He shakes his head.

"Stop what?" I ask innocently, batting my eye lashes.

"Lying." He grumbles. "And stop looking at me with those big green eyes like that'll help your case any." He raises his eyebrows. "Please tell me." His thumb was lightly stroking the skin on my hip as he looked at me, "Then we'll eat." He adds.

"Because I don't know if they're going to be happy." I finally sigh, looking away from him. In my peripheral vision I see his eyebrow scrunch together in confusion.

"Why would they not be happy?" He wonders.

"Because this isn't how it works back home." I say softly. I look back at him, scanning over his perfect features. He hadn't shaved in a few days, and his beard was looking on point right now. I loved it when his face had some scruff on it.

"How what works?" He tilts his head.

"We've barely been together for a minute." I tell him, setting my plate back down on the counter. "We've barely been together, we're not married... and I'm pregnant." My cheeks flush at that last part and I see the concern on his face right away. "You're supposed to be married before you have children. My parents have always, religiously believed that. It's how they were raised. Shit, they stopped talking to my brother for months because Randy had his girlfriend move in before they were married." I wipe one stray tear that had made its way down my cheek away with my palm. "I'm afraid if I tell them, that they'll be angry and they won't speak to me. Finn, you don't understand how much I need my parents." I finally finish. Understanding flashes across his face, and he nods before wrapping his arms around me and hugging me for a few long seconds.

"Ok." He smiles, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I just stand there and watch as he picks my plate up off the counter and takes it into the living room with him and sits down on the couch. "Come in and eat, my love." He says when he notices that I didn't follow him in.

"That's it? You're not going to tell me that I need to tell them or some kind of junk?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

"No. I'm not." He shakes his head. "I'm not going to force you to tell your parents. I think you should, because while all of what you said could possibly be true... What if it isn't and you don't tell them? They'll miss out on your whole pregnancy, and you'd be even more upset with yourself." He explains. I fall down on the couch next to him, putting a forkful of eggs into my mouth. I glance at the door when Kelly walks in.

"Hey." She greets both of us in her usual bubbly tone of voice.

"Hey Kel." I try to smile.

"What's wrong?' She asks immediately.

"She's afraid to tell her parents about the baby because she thinks they'll stop speaking to her." Finn rattles off quickly before I even had a chance to answer. He smiles at me, and kisses my cheeck before grabbing his plate and standing up. "I'll finish my breakfast on the back patio I think." He adds, walking off.

Dick.

"Honey..." Kelly murmurs, taking his place on the couch next to me. "You're momma will be nothing short of thrilled to hear that you're having a baby." She assures me.

"Yeah? Even though I've only been with Finn for less than a year, shit, less than 6 months? And, we're not married, or engaged for that matter." I challenge her. She purses her lips into a thin line and thinks about that for a moment.

"Ok, here's the thing." She starts off. "Even if they do get upset, and yeah, they might." She nods, "It's better to tell them so they know, and give them the opportunity to be involved than to not tell them at all in fear that they're going to be pissed off. If you don't tell them, you're not giving them a chance at all. Your momma might get mad, but she won't stay mad forever. She can't stay mad when it involves a grandchild, we both know that." She chuckles, "And you're daddy... He's gonna be pissed we both know it." She admits, "But he'll come around too. The question really is... Do you want them angry now, but around when the baby is born or do you want to wait and have to do some of this pregnancy stuff on your own? There are some things that only your momma can help you with, that Finn can't or won't understand." She tells me.

As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. I'd been avoiding tell them because I knew they'd be upset and I didn't want the children before marraige lecture from either of them. The truth was though, I needed to endure it because there was no way in hell I could do this without my momma. Of course my daddy was important too, but it would be my momma that would fly out here and help me for a couple weeks after the baby was born. My momma, who knows how to make a baby stop crying. My momma, who knows what to do in any kind of situation. Finn said it himself, he had no baby experience. I know he'd be helpful, and he'd try so hard, but it was going to be my momma that will give me the help only she can.

"Alright, you're right." I finally sigh. "I'll call them today." I nod.

"Good." She smiles, pushing some of her blond hair behind her shoulder. "You'll feel better after, no matter what the outcome is." She assures me.

****...****...****

"I'm going to call them, please don't say anything." I tell Finn. I was perfeched at the island in the kitchen and he was leaning up against the counter across from me. "Don't interject yourself into the conversation. If they're going to get mad, just let them be angry." I say to him.

"I'll be quiet." He nods, making a motion like he's zipping his lips shut. With a sigh, I hit the call button on my cell phone. My momma picks up after only a couple rings.

"Hey baby." She answers in her perky tone.

"Hi momma, how are you?" I ask her, chewing furiously on my bottom lip.

"We're good hun, how are you? How's Finn?" She asks me back.

"I'm good."' I tell her, glancing up at Finn. "He's good too, we just finished eating breakfast a little bit ago. Is it late there?"

"Not to terribly late, no. I would have been glad you called no matter what time it is." She chuckles, making me smile.

"Momma, I got something I need to tell you." I finally say.

"You and Finn are visiting again?" She asks hopefully.

"Well, not quite." I let out a soft laugh.

"What is it baby?" She questions.

"Please don't get angry..." I murmur.

"What's wrong?" I hear my daddy ask in the background. My stomach instantly drops, I'd have rather told my momma this without my daddy around but I'm clearly going to have to tell them both at the same time.

"Your daughter is on the phone." Momma answers, "You're on speaker hunny, unless it's something you just wanted to talk to me about." She offers.

"No, no momma that's ok. Daddy needs to hear it too." I sigh, "Hi daddy." I greet him.

"Baby girl, I'm missin' you." he tells me.

"Miss you too daddy. I just called to tell you guys that I'm pregnant, Finn and i are having a baby." I spit it out quickly, not giving myself a chance to turn around and change my mind. There's a long, and super painful pause on the other end and if it wasn't for my daddy's breathing I'd have thought they hung up.

"You ain't been with that boy more than 6 months." My daddy is the one to finally break the silence.

"It doesn't matter daddy, Finn is it for me." I answer calmly. I was hoping that if I was calm, he'd stay calm. I wasn't worried about my momma getting too entirely upset.

"You're not engaged to that boy, you're not married. It ain't how it's done. Why would you be so careless and reckless?" He asks me. He wasn't yelling, but his voice was louder than what it usually was.

"I really just want you guys to be happy..." I murmur, studying the lines on the counter top.

"Baby, we're so-" I heard my momma start to respond, but she was quickly cut off.

"Quiet woman." My daddy tells her. "I thought when Randy let Lizzy move in when they weren't married was disrespectful but this takes the cake." he tells me.

"Daddy, it's not the 1500's anymore. Can you just stop?" I sigh, getting annoyed.

"That's the problem with the world anymore, children ain't got no respect. Ain't got no respect for their parents, who raised 'em." He starts to grumble. I let out a long, loud, aggravated sigh.

"Momma I love you, call me when daddy is done being a neandrithal from the stone age." I finally say before hitting the 'end' button on my phone and promptly turning it off. "There. It's done, they know. Are you happy now?" I growl at Finn. I was blaming him right now, even though I knew that none of my parents reactions were his fault. He just looks at me, doesn't say anything and doesn't respond in any kind of way. "I'd like to go see Dillon." I tell him.

"Ok." He agrees. "Go get dressed and we'll leave."

"Do you want me to leave for a while?" He offers, patting his own horses nose.

"I really do." I nod, "I'm sorry." I tell him. I felt bad for pushing him away.

"It's alright, my love." He smiles, palming my face. "Come inside when you're ready." He tells me after pressing his lips to my forehead. I took Dillon out of his stall and he followed me outside. I spend the next hour with my face buried into my horses neck. He just stood there and let me cry, every once in a while his lip would brush across my shoulder or he'd use his head to hold me against him.

"You're such a good boy." I tell him, wiping my face. Animals are really the best kind of therapy out there. There was just something about hugging an amial that just made you feel better.

***...***...***

A week later I was in the kitchen with Solomon. Finn was off at work, and for the record, yes Finn knew that Sol was here right now. We were busy making sugar cookes, and watching him decorate sugar cookies was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen.

"What is that?!" I ask him, trying to control my laughter.

"It's a bush." he shrugs, trying to his his own grin.

"You don't make bushes out of sugar cookies!" I laugh, "You're supposed to put like happy faces... or something on them." I try to insist.

"Well, I'm starting a new trend. Bush cookies." He tells me in a very matter of fact kind of tone. It only made me laugh harder. I was glad he'd showed up this morning, I really needed this kind of day just just laugh and not think about anything.

"Bush cookies?" He smirk, "Ok. Keep making your bush cookies." I nod, still grinning from ear to ear."

"What's that then?" he asks, pointing to my own cookie.

"It's a puppy." i tell him. He looks at it skeptically, then looks up at me with the same expression. "It is!" I exclaim. "There's the nose, the eyes, I even put ears on him." i tell him, pointing to each area.

"We'd hate for him to be a deaf puppy." He nods very seriously.

"You're so stupid." I chuckle, putting a few small pink dots onto his completely green iced sugar cookie.

"Hey! That's my cookie!" He exclaims.

"The bush needed berries." I tell him seriously. He pauses, and looks at it.

"You're right, definitely needs berries." He finally agrees. We both pause, and look at my cell phone when it starts ringing on the counter. I expected it to be Finn, but when I dried off my hands and picked it up it was from my daddy. I had a though about just ignoring it, because I was having a good day.

"Hello?" I answer, pointing at the undecorated cookies and looking up at Sol who rolls his eyes at me.

"Baby girl." My daddy answers.

"Hi daddy." I murmur. There a few seconds of a pause before he starts again.

"I'm sorry." He finally sighs. "I over reacted the other day. I just want to make sure you're happy, and this is what you want and if it is that you're taken care of. When you're not married to that boy, it gives him a chance to take off on ya, and I don't want that." He explains.

"Daddy..." I smile. "That's not how it is." I assure him. "Finn isn't going anywhere, he's not leaving me and he's so happy about this." I tell him.

"We're so happy!" My momma exclaims in the background.

"We are." My daddy agrees.

"We'd love to see you before your due date." My momma tells me.

"I'm sure we can do that momma." I assure her, knowing that Finn would be more than happy to have us visit them for a week or so.

"Your work won't mind?" She asks me. I haven't even been to work now in days. This whole situation had put me into a mess and I'd been sick on and off so I just decided to stay home. Or actually, Finn decided that I would stay home.

"No momma, I can get some time off it's not an issue." I tell her.

"I'm so exctied!" She exclaims happily, "My baby is having a baby!" She adds making me chuckle. I took that moment to look at the cookie Sol was decorating and point to it, looking at him like 'WTF'.

"It's a dying bush." He shrugs like he doesn't even know either. I only roll my eyes.

"Well, I just wanted to call and apologize to ya." My daddy says.

"It's ok daddy." I tell him.

"Love you darlin'." Both my momma and daddy say in unison.

"Love you too." I tell them before we hang up. "Dying bush..." I roll my eyes again, laughing at Sol and giving him a light punch in the shoulder.

"Your parents sound pretty nice, what's it like to have parents?" He asks me. That question made me stop whatever I was doing and I looked at him, a little wide eyed.

"You don't have parents?" I ask him curiously. Now that I think about it... I'd never asked Finn about his family situation either. And I needed to.

"I'm sure I did. I don't remember them now." He shrugs like it was no big deal.

"I don't know how to describe it..." I murmur. "It's like having someone who cares about you all the time, but not like a friend of a spouse would. They'd give literally anything for you, or to make you happy." I try to explain. "Wow, I'm really not good at explaining this." I chuckle.

"That's ok." He smiles. A few hours later we'd finished the cookies and we're both literally covered in flour and frosting from the cookies. Finn walked into the kitchen, with raised eyebrows looking from us to the cookies.

"What are those?" he questions, pointing to the cookies Sol had made.

"They're bushes." I smile at Finn. "My parents called earlier, we need to go visit soon. No plane please, I can't do that kind of anxiety while pregnant." I tell him simply.

"I'm going to go on home, I had fun." Solomon smiles, using one arm to half hug me quick.

"Thanks for coming over." I smile as he left out the back door.

"You made up?" Finn asks curiously.

"My daddy called to apologize." I nod. "They really want to see us before I have the baby, and i told them that wouldn't be a problem." I say to him.

"It's not problem at all." He smiles, looking a little relieved himself. His demeanor lately had been very laid back and chill, it was a nice change. Don't get me wrong, there were some days that I just loved to fucking fight with him. It seemed that he knew with some of this pregnancy stuff that he needed to be calm and collected for both of us. "You let me know when you want to go home, and we'll go." He tells me.

"Ok. Not for a few months though." I tell him, "Look, I made this cookie especially for you." I grin at him. He chuckles, as I handed him the cheesy looking sugar cookie. I'd made a big red and pink heart on it and put his name in the middle in black.

"Thank you." He chuckles, taking it from me.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Happy new years!

"Oh my god, you can't do that! It's cheating!" I snort at Finn, trying not to laugh. We were playing a game of Chess, which I'm not very good at and he happens to be excellent at. "You're such a cheater." I shake my head again, leaning back into the couch.

"I'm winning so I'm automatically cheating?" He grins, taking the pawn he'd just killed off the chess board and setting it with the numerous other pieces that had faced the same fate.

"Yes." I nod seriously.

"I let you win the last game." He tries to defend himself.

"You LET me win?!" I exclaim, "I won because I'm better than you." I try to play off. I was no where near his playing level experience. He only smirks at me, and I lean over and kiss his cheek. "You're such a good boyfriend for letting me win. Or else I might get angry from losing so many times." I chuckle. We sit in silence for a few moments, both of us just staring at the chess board. All I had left was the king and queen, and he had nearly all his pieces left.

"You should go shower and get ready to go out, I have a surprise for you tonight." He says suddenly, a smile playing across his lips.

"What kind of surprise?" I challenge.

"The kind you're going to enjoy." He tells me before patting my knee and standing up. "Wear something nice." He adds with a wink. I roll my eyes, but push myself up off the couch.

"Alright..." I respond. Sometimes I didn't like surprises, but Finn hasn't led me astray yet and if I have to dress nice it can't be all that bad.

"We're leaving in a couple hours." He informs me. It was just past 5 now.

***...***...***

"This is a very nice restaurant." I murmur to Finn as the hostess walked us to our table. It was in the back, in a private patio area.

"Thank you." He tells the hostess as she excuses herself.

"You know you don't have to take me out to places like this right?" i ask him, "Not that I don't totally appreciate it, but I am ok with burgers and fries." I say to him.

"I know." He looks amused. "I just like to show you how special you are to me." He smiles. I still can't figure out how exactly I got so lucky to find this man, or for him to find me.

"You're the best." I smile back.

"I try."

The patio over looked most of downtown Dublin, it was really pretty.

"Can I ask you something?" He wonders, glancing up at me.

"Of course." I shrug, taking a sip of the coke I'd ordered.

"Do you want to be with me forever?" Looking at me mischievously.

"You know I do." I grin at him.

"Do you want to marry me?" With the same look.

"It's definitely a bonus." I chuckle, shaking my head.

"That's kind of what I was hoping to hear." He nods his head, standing up and pulling a little black box out of his pocket. My grin gets wider as I watch him lower down onto one need in front of me. "This is how you do it right?" He smiles and I nod. "I know it's a little unorthodox, but Annabelle, will you marry me?" I can even play it down and say the diamond wasn't that big, because honestly i wasn't much of a jewelry, biggest diamond kind of girl but it was one of the biggest diamonds I'd ever seen in my life, and it was surrounded on both sides of the band with smaller rocks.

"Yes." I smile, letting him slip it over my finger.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He tells me with a breath of relief.

"You knew I was going to say yes and you were still nervous." I tease him.

"It's a little nerve racking." He admits. "Guess what?" He asks me. He'd brought back that mischevious grin again, and It only make me giggle.

"What?" I ask.

"Your father barely even hesitated when i asked him permission to marry you." He tells me, his face softening. I stared at him. He'd taken the time and had enough respect to ask my daddy for permission to marry me.

"Thank you, for asking him." I say seriously. "I love you."

"I love you." He responds. "I'm sorry if it wasn't as romantic as you'd hoped."

"It was perfect." i smile.

***...***...***

"Charlise, make sure it's executed tonight." I hear Finn tell him as I walked into the dining room of the castle. Ellena was hard at work in the kitchen, I was kind of hoping she'd have something that I'd want to eat made up.

"Yes master Balor." He nods curtly, "Afternoon Lady Annabelle." He acknowledges me politely before walking off.

"Execute what?" I question Finn, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I've sentenced Baramiere and Jordynian to life in the Dungeons." He tells me. I must have made a face because he quickly followed it up with, "There will be no torture involved. The dungeon's are only to make sure they can not escape." He assures me.

"Ok." I nod.

"Lady Annabelle. Are you hungry?" Ellena offers. "I fixed that recipe you brought to me, called Chili and there's also a chicken and rice dish here." She smiles.

"I'd love some Chili." I tell her. A couple weeks ago she'd insisted that I bring to her a few recipes that were my favorite so she could make them.

"I'll have a bowl as well, please, Ellena." Finn tells her. She quickly excuses herself back into the kitchen while Finn and I sit down. "Set your foot up here." he pats his lap.

"No..." I shake my head at him. He grins, because he knew I didn't want to show him my giant, freak sized swollen ankles. He narrows his eyes at me, "I said no." I shake my head again.

"You'd better put your foot up here." He laughs. "My love, it's perfectly normal to retain water." he assures me, which I already knew. With a sigh I swing my leg up and set it on his thigh. "Your ankles are the size of soft balls." he comments, "Does it hurt?"

"No. It's just ugly." I grumble.

"No." He shakes his head at me. "You couldn't be ugly if you tried, I'm afraid."

"You're sweet." I sigh. Ellena walks over and sets down a couple bowls in front of us, "Thank you." I smile at her. It tasted really good. It'd been a few days since I've cooked for Finn and I, lately we'd just been ordering take out and we hadn't been to the castle in a week now. An hour or so passes and we ate in a comfortable silence, every once in a while one of the men would come in and ask Finn a question or had him something.

"I don't want to get married until after the baby comes." I inform him.

"As you wish, but can I ask why?" He tilts his head at me.

"Because, I don't want to get married fat. I want to get married and look bangin' in my wedding dress." I rattle off, making him chuckle. I jump and Finn's head snaps up when Baron barrels through the double doors of the dining hall. "Baron?" I murmur, looking at him confused. He'd never step food into the castle if there wasn't something seriously wrong, and judging by the look on his face, something was wrong. He narrows his eyes at Finn, hardly even seeing me before making long forceful strides towards us. In a second Finn is up on his feet and has Baron held up against a wall. "Hey, calm down." I say softly to Finn, putting a hand on his arm.

"He has no right to storm into my castle as he's done, let along step foot on my land without permission first." Finn growls, staring Baron down.

"Stop." I tell him. I was trying to keep calm. If I get worked up, who knows what this baby inside me will do, and I didn't want to hurt anyone myself. "Baron, what's going on?" I look up at the nearly 7 foot tall, tattooed man, who was still pinned to the wall a few feet off the ground.

"A third of my pack was massacred last night." He spits at Finn, "We've done nothing to do, and I'm done sitting around doing nothing about it!" He shouts.

"What?" I ask, looking between the two.

"Annabelle, you should go home and let your boyfriend and I handle this. Just between us." Baron says in a deep voice.

"Knock it off." I snap at him. "Baron, I'm sorry about your pack and we're going to talk about this. But we're going to do it as adults and without killing each other. Finn didn't do it, he's literally been with me every moment for weeks now." I tell Baron. It was right that second that I remember walking in on Finn and Charlise earlier. He'd said to execute it today. "Oh my god..." I murmur, looking at Finn with wide eyes.

"Annabelle?" He questions with furrowed eyebrows. Then, it seemed to click with him too and his face instantly went white. "I haven't lied to you, my love." He assures me in a soft tone.

"Put Baron down." I instruct him, then look at Baron. "And you, be fucking nice or I'll throw you back up on that wall myself." I warn him. A few seconds pass before he finally nods and Finn slowly lowers him to the ground. "When did this happen?" I ask the wolf.

"It just happened." Baron rumbles. My stomach drops and I look over at Finn, who I can tell is panicked.

"I would never jeopardize our relationship like that." Finn insists. "What reason do I have to kill the mutts?" He asks me. He had no reason really, but he also never had a good reason to torture those creatures in the dungeons like he had been before.

"Who else would do this?" I ask in barely a whisper.

"I don't know, my love." He answers, "But I'm sure if we work together we can figure this out." He tells me, then glances at Baron.

"I'm not working shit out with you." Baron spits at his feet.

"Baron." I glower at him. He glares at Finn, then looks at me before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry I barged in." He tells me, never once looking up at Finn as he apologized. "I need a few days." He says to me, in a more sad tone. We both watch as Baron retreats from the castle, and I see Finn put his hand up silently telling his men not to attack him.

"You don't believe me." Finn murmurs, disappointed.

"The timing... Finn." I shake my head, looking at the floor. "And you said execute. And you've never liked Baron in the first place." I bite hard on my bottom lip.

"Annabelle, what reason do I have to be that person anymore?" He scoffs. "I love you, I've changed so many of my ways and habits for you, why would I put our relationship at risk like that?" He asks me.

"Who would do this?" I ask with big green eyes.

"I don't know, my love. I don't know." He murmurs, palming my face.

I didn't know what to believe right now.

A/N: Has demon Finn risen once more, or is he telling the truth?


	25. Chapter 25

"You don't believe me." Finn comments later that day. I was perched in the center of the bed working on some papers for my internship with my laptop placed right in front of me. I glance up at him and pull my bottom lip between my teeth.

"I do believe you." I say slowly, "It's just hard to swallow what happened." I try to explain to him.

"What are you doing?" He asks curiously, glancing at my laptop.

"Paper work." I mumble, continuing to work on it. "You should go try to talk to Baron." I suggest to him only to get a scoff in response. It was enough to make me look up at him and furrow my eyebrows together.

"And risk getting massacred myself? I think not." He states. I roll my eyes and shake my head, but continue to finish up my work. "If there's someone out there tearing wolves to pieces than I think it'd be wise to take care of my own land and people." He adds.

"Well then go do that." I mutter, "I'm busy." I add not even looking up.

"Too busy for your man?" He questions, tilting his head at me.

"Yes." I answer in a breathy voice.

"No." He chuckles, taking my chin in his fingers and making me look up at him. He smirks down at me and I let out a long sigh.

"No." I agree.

"That's what I like to hear." He smiles, stroking his finger along my jawline. "I love you." He tells me.

"I love you too." I rest my hand on his hip, grabbing a handful of the fabric that sat there.

"I'm going to send out a group of men to run the perimeter just in case." He says and I nod. "I'll be downstairs when you're finished." He adds.

"Ok." I breathe. It didn't take me long to finish up once I could work uninterrupted and about an hour later I was walking down the steps into the big foyer area where Finn was talking with Charlise.

"Good afternoon Lady Annabelle." He smiled warmly at me.

"Hello Charlise." I return the smile. I was up to Finn and press my lips to his jaw line, "I'll be outside with Dillon and Gannicus." I tell him softly.

"I'll be out shortly. Perhaps we can go for a ride in the woods?" He suggests. We hadn't actually even ridden together yet. There was either no time or we'd be fighting, or lately I'd been sick.

"That sounds fun." I beam up at him.

"Go and get Dillon ready." He smiles, nodding his head towards the stables. I pushed open the front doors and bounced down the steps headed towards the stable where I was greeted by a soft nicker from Dillon.

"Hello sweet boy." I smile at him, pressing my lips to his soft nose that he'd stuck in my face. "You want to go for a ride?" I ask him, pulling at his stall latch. He wasted no time stepping in front of me when I got it open. "Hey! Personal space, please." I grumble at him.

"My my, he is protective over you isn't he?" I hear a male voice say behind me. I turn around, expecting one of Finn's men, but I was face to face with someone I'd never met before. Funny thing, is even though I know I'd never seen this guy before he still looked so familiar.

"Can I help you?" I ask wearily. I was fully aware of Dillon's protective stance in front of me, and it was setting off all sorts of alarm bells in my head.

"Finn is not with you?" He asks.

"I missed your name..." I say to him, narrowing my eyes.

"I never said it." He smirks. "Shame that my brother wouldn't be protecting you every moment possible, especially with such a killer running around." Hold on, did he just say brother?

"I wasn't aware Finn had a brother." I say to him, making him laugh and Dillon snort and pin his ears back.

"Of course he wouldn't talk about me. He'd never admit to stealing everything that was supposed to me mine. Everything that I have full intentions of taking back." He snorts.

"Maybe I should go get him for you." I suggest casually. Truth was I didn't want to be the one left alone with guy, no matter who he was.

"That won't be necessary, my love." Finn says from behind the man. "Alec. I should've known. You can't just accept the fate you made for yourself and our parents." This is all new knews to me. Brother. Parents. I think we're going to have to have a little talk later about family.

"I made no such fate! You're a thief and a liar!" Alec snarls at him. A snarl scary enough for me to take a step back. We all paused when the ground shook under our feet and a few seconds later I realized it was Gannicus, landing just outside the stable doors. "Yes, yes, rally everything you have. You know you can not beat me without them."

"Brother you're wrong, that dragon wouldn't piss on me if I were on fire. He's here to protect her." Finn nods at me casually. I watch him form one of his famous fire balls in the palms of his hands and he aims it for Alec.

"We're not finished." Alec tells him, before vanishing himself. I glance up at Finn who looked more annoyed than anything else.

"You failed to mention you had a brother." I grumbled at him.

"It wasn't-" he started to reply but i cut in.

"Can we just go for a ride? We'll talk about it later, I just want to spend time with you." I let out a heavy sigh.

"Of course, my love." He nods curtly. "Let me get Aron ready." He states.

***...***...***

"Alright... So, Alec." I finally say. We went out for an afternoon ride, came back in for dinner and I'd bathed before I even thought about bringing up the subject.

"Alec is my brother." He comments.

"So where'd he come from?" I ask, crawling up the length of the bed and laying down by where he was sitting.

"He and my parents live in another land." He answers simply, "To which I've banned them to." He adds like it's no big deal.

"What could family have possibly done to deserve that kind of treatment?" I wonder. He glances down at me and I can tell that he doesn't want to talk about it but it was also something that I needed to know.

"Annabelle I worked hard for this land, for these people." He starts off. "It wasn't inherited, it was won. My mother is a no body and a peasant, my father has many of my same powers but he used them quite differently than I. He was always more concerned about power than respect. My brother Alec, has always been the same way." He explains. "When I won rights to this land with my men my brother and father, much like Jordynian and Baramire, conspired against me to take it. Power hungry." He states.

"So you banned them." i comment.

"I didn't have it in me back then to put them into a dungeon like I do now. I still don't. They're family." He sighs.

"Where's your mother?" I question. He didn't seem to want to answer that question. "She's dead?" I push harder.

"She's not dead." He shakes he head. "You've met her." He adds and I furrow my brows at him. "Promise me you'll think no less of me..."

"I promise." I agree.

"Ellena is my mother." He states, looking at me for any kind of reaction. I'm quiet for a moment, letting that sink in.

"Are you punishing her?"

"No, my love." He replies softly. "My mother didn't want the people to know that she was related to me or my father and brother because she didn't want them to think of her the way they thought of my father and brother. She made the decision to work in the kitchen. She is free to come and go as she pleases, I'd never force such a thing on her. You have to understand, mother loves to cook. I will have to tell her that you know though. Why do you think she was so ecstatic when she found out you were pregnant?" He smirks at me.

"She's very sweet." I smile at him.

"I made her promise to always protect her from my brother and father, and I have every intention of keeping that promise." He tells me.

"How come you never told me any of this?" I ask him.

"I was hoping it would never arise." He sighs. "Technically Alec has broken several laws not to mention he entered land that he's banned from. I should send my men after him and throw him into the dungeons for the rest of forever."

"And you're not because...?"

"Because he's my brother." He shrugs simply.

"You're brother slaughtered half a wolf pack last night, and Baron isn't going to be able to accept the fact that you and your brother aren't working as one." I say.

"I will figure out something." He assures me.

"I can't believe Ellena is your mom and you didn't tell me." I growl at him. "I introduced you to my parents like after a month." I glower at him, making him grin at me.

"I believe my situation is slightly different from yours." He chuckles.

"Come and lay down, lets go to bed." I suggest. "You're brother looks just like you." I tell him a few moments later. "I kept thinking, do I know this cat?" I say making him laugh again.

"We're nearly identical to our father, and look almost nothing like our mother." He smiles, tracing his finger along my upper arm.

"What are you going to do about Alec? He is kind of a threat..." I murmur, knowing he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"I need time to think about it." He answers shortly.

"So tomorrow will you tell me about your childhood?" I ask him changing the subject, "Or do I need to ask your mother what kind of kind you were?" I smirk at him.

"One step at a time, my love." He smiles.

A/N: I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long for an update :/


	26. Chapter 26

"You're still upset." Finn comments.

"I'm a little annoyed yeah." I shrug, flipping a pancake. He let out a long sigh next to me... The past week or so I've been a bit standoffish with him. His hands slip around my waist and he rests his chin on my shoulder. "Buttering me up isn't going to help your case." I smirk.

"It's helping a little." He rebuts softly.

"I never hid my family from you." I comment. Yep, I was still on about that.

"You had nothing to hide. You'r family is flawless." He chuckled. "Mine is slightly more dysfunctional." He says.

"It doesn't matter." I sigh. "I really just want to not have to find out these things from everyone else. Why can't you just tell me stuff."

"If it makes you feel any better I don't have anymore secrets. You know everything." He assures me. "And from now on you can ask me anything you'd like and I'll answer honestly." He adds, squeezing my shoulder.

"You're brother isn't going away, what are you going to do about him?" I ask curiously.

"He's probably rallying with my father and it will be a shit show." He grumbles, letting his hands fall from my waist and retreating into the living room. "And I don't know." He answers, "The punishment with suit the crime." He adds. I hear the TV turn on after another moment and continue making breakfast. "My love?" He calls softly after another few minutes.

"Yes?" I murmur in response.

"I"m very hungry." He says softly. Like he didn't want to offend me because breakfast was taking too long, but teasing me at the same time. I roll my eyes and put a couple pancakes and some bacon on a plate for him before walking it into the living room. "Thank you." He smirks.

"If he's hungry, feed him." I roll my eyes.

"If she's horny, fuck her." He rebuts with a devious grin.

"She's horny." I laugh, walking back into the kitchen.

"He's hungry. May I eat first?" He laughs. "Being well fed helps with my performance." He winks.

"I suppose." I answer, walking back into the living room and sitting next to him to eat breakfast.

"I love you."

"I love you too." I smile at him. "What are you watching?" I look skeptically at the TV.

"It's like a blacksmith competition show. I enjoy watching them make blades and swords." He tells me.

"Maybe you should take up blacksmithing." I say, trying to hold back my smirk. His head swivels at me and he shakes his head, choosing to say nothing at all. "Good breakfast babe." He says, taking my empty plate from me and walking them both into the kitchen. When he walks back out he leans over me on the couch, pressing his lips to mine. "You want something?" He asks softly.

"Yes." I nod. My fingers grazed over the scruff on his face before sliding down his chest and under his shirt. I rake my fingers over his abs and watch as the lust becomes predominant in his eyes. I grin and let my hand travel further South and over the bulge in his shorts, making him suck in a breath.

"Tease..." He groans, grinding his hardness into my hand.

"You walk around without a shirt on 85% of the time and I'm the tease?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"I didn't realize it had that effect on you." He smirks, knowing exactly the effect it had on me. I pull up the t-shirt over his head and toss it behind the couch.

"Are you still going to want me when I'm fat?" I ask him. He stopped and looked at me, dropping down to his knees so he's eye level with me.

"Are you being serious?" He questions.

"Kind of..." I nod, biting my bottom lip.

"You won't be fat, you'll be heavily pregnant and I will love you the same. Your weight matters little to me, you're beautiful regardless." He insists, easily pulling my sweat pants down my legs. "Now, unless you're moanin' me name... Be quiet." He states, leaving feathered kisses across the insides of my thighs. I bite my lip and look down at his as his tongue inches closer to my core and my whole body shutters when his swipes it all the way up my slit to my clit. My hips come up from the couch slightly and my fingers run through his hair and over his shoulders, digging into the skin slightly. His mouth engulfs my wetness as he continues to roll his tongue over my clit, turning me into this moaning mess and pulling at the short hairs at the nape of his neck.

"Oh god..." I murmur, feeling my body start to tense up. He slides two fingers into me, gently stroking my walls while his tongue continues to not so gently attack my clit. "Finn!" I exclaim, clamping my legs around his head and pulling his hair as I came hard.

"Good girl." He smiles from between my legs. I could only smirk back at him. He was covered in my juices from the nose down, his hair was a hot mess and his whole chest was already flushed from how turned on he was. My feet easily pushed his basketball shorts down to his knees and he kicked them the rest of the way off as he stood up and began to hover over me on the couch. I wasted pretty much no time pulling him down to me, using both hands to grip his butt cheeks.

"How is your butt thicker than mine?" I grumble playfully at him.

"Squats babe." He winks, pulling a couple quick kisses from my lips. He groans when my nails dig deeper into the soft skin on his butt before I ease the pressure and drag them up his back, over his shoulders and back down his chest until my hand finally wraps around his length. He lets out a breathy growl into my ear as I stroke him for a moment before bringing him to me. We both let out a satisfied moan when he enters me in a few slow thrusts.

"You're going to have to go harder than that today." I tell him, grasping his back as he kept up with the slow and steady thrusting. He presses his forehead against my own, glancing those cool blue eyes into my bright green ones. "Slow isn't cutting it." I add making him chuckle.

"If that's how you want it." He shrugs simply, snapping his hips up into me and making me gasp.

"Yes please, more of that." I breathe, my hands gripping his hips and encouraging the faster, rougher action. He uses and arm under my back to readjust us on the couch before ruthlessly thrusting into me, each thrust pushing my head into the couch cushion. "Oh my god..." I moan, biting down on his shoulder and making him growl. With simple rotation of his hips he enters at a new angle, hitting me with a mix of pleasure and pain and making me cry out. My nails literally rake down his back and dig into his butt cheeks again.

"Did I hurt you?" He asks in a ragged breath.

"No... Oh god, don't stop." I moan into his shoulder. My own hips were basically coming up off the couch to meet his thrusts and I could tell I was coming close to another orgasm as my legs started to shake and my eye sight started to go fuzzy. The release was so intense that I'm sure the neighbors that lived 2 miles away could hear my scream as my muscles clamped down and I came over his length. He grunted and I watched him white knuckle the pillow on my couch before he came after me. I could literally feel him pulsing inside me.

"Feel better?" He asks softly, peppering my shoulder and neck with kisses as he rose up off me.

"A little bit, yeah." I smile.

"I'm out of shape, you don't usually ask for it rough." He chuckles, still catching his breath. I watch him turn around and toss me my pants before bending over for his own shorts.

"Oh my god." I stifle a laugh, making him stand and turn around quickly.

"What?" He furrows his eyebrows at me. I motion for him to come closer and turn him back around.

"I got you..." I whisper, pointing out the ten nail prints on his butt cheeks. "There too..." I say, running my fingers down 4 long scrapes that were actually bleeding from how hard I'd raked him. "Do they hurt?" I ask him. HIs whole body was flushed and splotched. Those back muscles, paired with the red flush and the scratches made me want to ride the shit out of him all over again.

"Nah, but..." He shakes his head, raising an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I sigh, starting to pull on my own pants.

"I think brownies might help them to heal faster." He grins cheekily.

"What do I look like to you? A house wife?" He lets out a loud laugh, and had I not known him as well as I do it probably would've sounded obnoxious. It makes me narrow my eyes at him.

"You're the furthest thing from a house wife." He teases me. "Really, the furthest thing." He adds just to be annoying about it. "But you're brownies are amazing, and if you generously decided to make them and share them with me I'd be more appreciative." He wags his eyebrows.

"I'll make the stupid brownies." I roll my eyes.

"Thank you, my love." He smiles.

***...***...***

I was busy in the kitchen make the brownies that his majesty had so kindly asked for when he himself came walking in from the back door. He'd gone last night to the castle to check up on things and discuss a few things with his men. I could already tell that whatever he had to say wasn't going to be anything good. He had a solemn look on his face and hadn't quite looked me in the eyes yet.

"Hello, my love." He greets me, pressing a kiss to the back of my neck as he came up behind me.

"Hey babe." I murmur. "What's wrong?" I ask when he circles back around the kitchen island to sit across from where I stood.

"I fear that I won't get to taste any of those brownies because you're going to be so angry with me." He sighs. His eyes glance at the bowl as I stir it then back up to my own, which have turned from interest to unimpressed in less than 10 seconds.

"And why am I going to be angry with you?" I ask him, holding a steady tone of voice.

"You're going to go and visit your parents while I deal with my brother and father." He tells me. He was right, I was an instant angry and I went to protest when he cut me off. "It's not up for discussion. You're going." He insists. "This whole issue is far bigger than I'd originally thought it was. You and the baby are the most important things in the world to me and if it means that I have to sent you to Louisiana for a week or two while I resolve this than that's how it's going to be."

"You can't just ship me fucking off with something happens!" I basically snarled at him.

"Listen to me..." He says softly, "Just calm down and breath." He tries to be soothing. He was trying to keep me even, because we both knew the second I lost my temper that literally anything from slamming him across the room to lighting my own house on fire would be possible.

"What the fuck happens when 100 years down the road, when my family is fucking gone and something threatening happens? Where are you going to ship me off to?" I ask him through gritted teeth.

"I'll figure that out 100 years down the road." He answers smartly, which only made me even hotter.

"What if something happens to you?" I ask in almost a whisper. His whole faces softens when I ask that, and he's around the counter next to me almost instantly. "What if something happens to you and I'm not there?"

"My love, look at me." He tilts my chin up and green eyes meet blue. "Nothing will happen to me, I promise you that." He assure me.

"How can you promise something like that?" I almost scoff. He stares at me a moment, and I can see the wheels in his head turning... Trying to find the right way to answer that question.

"I just can." He finally shrugs. "Because there's no way that I"m going to risk letting anything happen to me before I've had a chance to be with you and start our family." He adds.

"It's not fair." I grumble.

"But it's final." He states. "You're going to call your mother and tell her that you're coming home in a couple days to visit, I"ll transport you there and when everything is finished I will come back for you." He tells me, cupping my face in his hands. "And you'll be taking Ganicus with you." He says and my eyes get wide.

"How?"

"He comes available in pocket size." He winks playfully.

"I don't want to be away from you..." I whine, turning back to the brownie batter and pouring it into the pan.

"It's not forever and we'll talk every day, as many times as you'd like." He assure me. "I'll have my phone."

"What about Kelly?" I ask, putting a hand on my hip.

"She's been staying with that guy you told me about. What about her?" He questions. I'm silent, because I really didn't have a way to answer that... I was really just looking for some way out of having to go home and being able to stay here.

"Nothing I guess." I shrug.

"I'm sorry you're angry. I'm only keeping you safe and out of harms way." He sounds like a broken record. Apologizing and saying he's trying to keep me safe.

"Yes, that may be the safer way for me. Meanwhile I"m fucking pregnant, thousands of miles away in a different country while my fiancé is off doing god knows what in a totally different land, possibly going to war with his own fucking father, putting himself in harms way and possibly not coming back to me at all. So good for you for keeping me safe but increasing my stress level by like 2000." I throw my hands up in the air, glowering at him.

"You're being extremely unreasonable." He comments, looking at me unimpressed.

"I don't care." I tell him honestly, slamming the brownies into the oven. "I"m starting to think you're more trouble than your fucking worth." I growl, immediately regretting what I'd just said and retreating out of the kitchen. He's right behind me, spinning me back around to face him. The tears had already started to form in my eyes.

"You didn't mean that..." He murmurs questionably, running the pads of his thumbs over the tears.

"No." I admit, shaking my head. His arms wrap around my body and I bury my face into his chest.

"I don't put it past my brother or my father to take you and use you against me. The last thing I want is for you and the baby to be in either or both of their hands." He explains. "Please just go home for a week or two, visit your family and when you come back everything will once again be normal."

"Ok." I finally agree.

"Thank you." He breathes, relieved.

Little did either of us know that me going to Louisiana may not do any good at all.


	27. Chapter 27

"How come Finn didn't come out with you this time? He's such a nice boy." Momma says as we were standing in the kitchen. I got here yesterday, and I put up a fight nearly the whole way here too. It was early, around 7 am and I was up to go out fishing with my daddy for the day.

"He had some things to take care of with work, he'll stay for a few days before we go back home." I assure her. I pour myself a glass of orange juice and glance up when my daddy walks into the kitchen, grumbling and mumbling like he usually did. "Morning daddy." I smile at him.

"Morning baby girl." He murmured back. "You ready to go fishing with me all day?" He questions. He looks up at me from lacing his boots in question.

"Yeah." I nod. "Ready whenever you are." I tell him.

"You want some breakfast babe?" My momma asks him. My mind wanders off around that time, I couldn't help but worry about Finn knowing that if something happened to him I would never know about it until it was too late.

*****...******...******

*At the castle* *3rd POV*

"Sir, the horses are restless, something isn't right." Charlise says in a soft tone, leaning over the table. He, Finn and a few other men were gathered around it, discussing action towards Finn's father and brother.

"They're up to something." He mumbles, glancing up at his second in command. "I don't believe we need to worry about an attack on the land. It will be personal, and directly towards me." He sighs, rubbing his temples.

"How will we know?" Charlise asks.

"I don't think we will." He answers.

"Sir, forgive me if I'm being to forward..." Charilse speaks, glancing at his boss who was focused on him. "But what if lady Annabelle isn't as safe as you hope she is, 5000 miles away, in another land, unprotected?" He questions. "Do you not think they would go after her before all else, knowing she holds great value to you?"

"I did think about that." He nods in agreement. "She may think she's over there alone, but she is not. I have a group of men in the area, keeping an eye on her. She is safe Charilse." He assures him. The solider nods, accepting that for an answer. "There is nothing we can do right now, so lets just keep an eye out and have a ready hand." He almost shrugged. The men glance around at each other nervously, but ultimately nod and scatter off into their respective areas. Finn waited a few moments before gathering himself and retreating off into the stables. "Hello Dillon..." He murmurs to her horse, giving him a pat on the nose. He lets out a soft knicker, pushing his head into his hand and stomping a foot. "I know, my friend. All is well." He assures the worried horse. In the stall next to Dillon, his own horse Aron continued to snort. "Aron, quiet." He hushes the horse. He took the few steps to the next stall and before he could reach his own hand into the soothe his horse, all went black.

When he finally came back around he was restrained, hard to a table and clearly by some sort of magic. When he tried to break the chains, nothing happened. He glanced around, still tugging at the chains. The room was black and empty, or so he thought.

"I thought I'd raised you better than to leave yourself so unguarded." His father's voice echoed through the room. Finn strained his neck, trying to find his figure but still couldn't see him.

"So cowardly. Not only to kidnap your own son but while he back is turned." He spits out.

"You're not the only thing we kidnapped." He brother Alec, chuckled. Again, he looked for the source of the voice but found nothing.

"I don't believe you. Annabelle is safe." He shakes his head. "You're not smart enough to find her." He comments, squinting his eyes to the bright light that was spot lighted on him.

"Am I not?" His father asks. Right then there was a high pitched, terrified scream. Finn immediately knew it was Annabelle's. It was heard again, the sound tearing holes through his chest.

"Leave her be! Your quarrel is with me, she is innocent." He tried to reason with the two.

"The only way to get to her is through you. You put her in this situation. All those ploys to keep her safe, and in the end nothing worked." Alec sneered.

"Please stop! I don't know where Finn is!" He heard Annabelle's stressed scream come from the other room. There was another scream before everything went an eery silent.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!" His voice bellowed throughout the room.

"It matters not." Alec simply shrugged, coming into the light. "We'll talk more later." He adds, before retreating from the room.

"ANNABELLE!" Finn calls to her, praying that she would hear his cries. He called several more times, each time hearing nothing in return. After a while, his voice began to go hoarse and dwindled down to a whisper. It seemed like an eternity later that he heard the door to the room open and shut, and a large burly man walked in with a cart. He knew the cart all too well. He had one similar in his own dungeons. It was littered with knives and other torturous devices. He closed his eyes, and waited for the pain to come. The first cut made him flinch. It was deep and long, along his collar bone. He immediately felt the warmth of the blood trickling down his neck and onto the table. Next were his thighs. Pinches and pricks scattered over his thighs, little needles entering his legs and drawing small specks of blood. The door opened again and he tried to glance at it, but the chains on his neck wouldn't give.

"Bring her in behind me." He heard his father tell someone.

"Annabelle?" He called out in a raspy voice. They wheeled her out in, putting the table right next to him. Tears formed in his eyes as he examined her lifeless body. She was limp against the table, covered in blood and eyes closed. "You ki-"

"Not yet." Alec cackled.

There was one gash that stood out from all the others, it ran straight across her stomach and was still bleeding profusely.

"Annabelle, my love..." He said softly, "Please look at me." He pleaded. She gave no response. His calm and collected demeanor was gone and panic was beginning to set in. "You may have whatever you wish father, but please, let her go free." He pleads.

"Finn, I believe that I"m going to get what I want regardless of any negotiation you attempt to make." His father sneered.

"SHE'S DONE NOTHING TO YOU!" His growl was loud and deep.

"Finn...?" His head snapped to look at her. Her voice was small and weak and it made his own heart bleed for her.

"My love." She opened her eyes, just barely, to look at him. "Everything is going to be ok." He tries to assure her.

"You're lying." She argued lightly with him. Even in her state she managed to argue.

"Tilt her up. I want him to see it when we slice her open." Alec instructs the two men that were on either side of her table.

"Father, please stop this!" Finn shouts, looking at his father with pleading eyes.

"Why should I stop?!" He snarled back. "Did you stop your men when they chased us from our own lands? Did you stop when you tore our family apart? Keeping you mother from me! Did you stop?!" He asks him. "I'm only repaying the favor."

"I would never do this to mother to hurt you." He scoffed softly. "She lives comfortably in the castle."

"And your brother and I? We live here, in exile. Fighting for anything we can possibly get." He retorts.

"It was you that betrayed I, not the only way around." Finn tries to reason with him.

"Cut her. Start at her neck." He instructs one of the men.

"NO!" Finn yells, his voice filled with anguish. He could only watch as the man picked up a knife and held it tight to his beloved throat.

"Finn, please don't let them..." She cried to him. Her tears running down her face in bloody smears. She let out a small cry when the blade forced its way into her skin, and hung her head as if she'd been defeated. It killed him to see his strong, fierce woman depleted to this state. "It hurts." He heard her whisper to him.

"It will be over soon, my love." Was the only thing he could do to comfort her. He felt failed as her fiancé and father to their child. He couldn't keep her safe despite his efforts and now he was forced to watch as his father and brother tore her open.

"Stop Bashirm, you'll kill her if you keep draining her like that. I need her a while longer." His father finally tells the man after what seemed like forever. She'd lost consciousness, thankfully. At least she wasn't able to feel the pain. "Put her back in the other room." He waves them off.

"No! Don't take her from me!" He begs his father. Another man walks into the room at that time, whispering something into his father and Alec's ears. He recognized something was off, just by the way his father's eyes got a little bit wider. They said nothing as they both retreated out the door, slamming it hard behind them. Sleep came quickly to him, he was exhausted. He made every attempt to find Annabelle in her slumber, but she must have awoken because no matter how hard he tried he was unable to find her. Funny, it had always been so easy when he'd first began coming to her in sleep. He was jolted from his thoughts with commotion and more slamming doors.

"Master Balor!" His man, Charilse shook him awake. His eyes flew open to meet his men, who were ripping the chains from his body to free him. "Master Balor, are you alright sir?" He asks quickly, looking over Finn's face and chest. He was covered in blood, there were hardly any areas that you could see clean skin.

"Charilse, they have Annabelle! You must find her!" He shouts at him in a hurry, pushing himself up off the table and immediately falling to the floor.

"Sir, you shouldn't walk. We need to get you to the medic back home." Charilse insists.

"Find her Charilse!" Finn snarled at his second. Charilse's eyes got wide, and confused.

"Sir, she isn't here." He tells him.

"She is here! She was in front of me not a day ago. They have her here, and she's hurt! Find her!" He instructs, pointing towards the door. He allowed a couple of the men to help him to his feet.

"Master Balor, we've scoured the entire dungeon. I assure you, she is not here." Charilse tells him.

"DO IT AGAIN." He bellowed.

"Yes sir." He finally nods, defeated. "Go, search the ground again. Take as many men as you can with you." He tells Uriel, who nods and disappears through a set of doors. "Get him back to the castle, see he's taken care of." He tells the other two who had Finn up to his feet.

"I will not leave without her." Finn insists, glaring daggers with his blue eyes.

"Sir, with respect... You need medical attention now. I will stay behind, if she's here I will find her. That I promise you." He assures his king. "I will find her." He repeats it. Finn stares at him hard for a long moment, before he finally nods.

***...***...***

It felt like forever had passed. He'd been bandaged up by his doctors some time ago and was waiting all too impatiently in the bed for Charilse to come back. Finally, another few hours later he came through the doors.

"Where is she?" He asks, his face falling.

"She wasn't there." Charilse replied hesitantly. "I had the men search the area for hours sir. She was not there." He says again. "Sir, we heard no word from your men in Louisiana that anything had happened to her." He adds confused. He thought about it, he probably had just enough energy in him to make the transport to Louisiana.

"What did you do with my father and Alec?" Finn asks him, letting the subject go for now. He couldn't jolt the image of his love, bloody and defeated from his mind. Charilse's face fell, and Finn immediately knew the answer.

"We killed them, sir." He said in a soft and cautious tone. Finn only responded to that with a curt nod, it was what needed to be done.

"I'm going to go to Louisiana. I will return." He assure him, standing up from his chair.

"Is it wise to transport in your condition?" Charilse asks, a concerned look on his face.

"I need to know she's ok." Was his short response.

***...***...***

"Daddy! That's not fair, you were cheating!" I laugh, coming up out of the boat. He'd caught a considerable number of fish more than I had, and cheating was the only answer in my mine.

"I'm older, and wiser. Only rational I catch more fish." He chuckles.

"Well, your half right." I grin at him, earning a scoff and a shake of his head.

"Annabelle." I look up, confused.

"Hey!" I grin at Finn, "I didn't think you'd be here so soon." I say to him. He was basically frozen to his spot staring at me, and I immediately knew that something was right.

"Finn, good to see you." Daddy grumble at him.

"The same sir." He nodded. I waited for my daddy to walk inside and shut the sliding glass door before I turned my attention to Finn.

"Are you ok?" I ask him.

"How is it possible?" He questions, looking me over.

"What are you going on about?" I furrow my eyebrows. Then I noticed it, the large bandage that crossed over his collar bone but was slightly hidden under his shirt. "What happened to you?!" I hissed.

"I thought you were gone." He whispered to me, only making me even more concerned.

"Gone from where?" I ask.

"My father... You were there. Bleeding, begging for my help." He rambles off. "I don't understand, what magic is that?" He asks himself.

"No Finn, I've been here. Fishing for the past 3 days with my daddy." I assure him. "I haven't went anywhere." I take his hand in mine, and leave a soft kiss on the back of it. He pulls me against his chest, and I noticed him flinch but I let it go for now and wrap my own arms around his waist.

"I love you." He tells me.

"I love you too." I reply.

"I thought I'd failed to keep you safe..." He murmurs confused.

"What happened?" I question, still confused as ever.

"My father, captured me... And he said he had you. I saw you... You were right there. You were bleeding. I watched them cut you." He rattles, still just as confused as me obviously. I could tell the whole thing was stressing him out. "Charilse killed them." He adds almost sadly.

"I'm sorry..." I say to him, trying to be comforting.

"It had to be done." Was his short response.

"Finn..." I look at him. "I"m right here, this is real." I assure him, "I"m ok." I add.

"It was the worse thing ever to have to watch." He tells me, "You kept asking me to help you and I couldn't. I couldn't keep you safe." He shakes his head. I use both hands to cup his face and hold his head still.

"You did keep me safe, I'm right here. Safe and sound." I say. "It must have been some kind of hallucination." I tell him. He thinks about that for a moment. "You should ask you mother if you father has any kind of powers that make people see things that aren't real." I suggest.

"I'd never thought of that..." He murmurs. "He knew I'd become panicked if it was you." I watch the wheels in his head turn before he looked down at me and stared for a moment, scanning every inch of my face. "We should go inside before your parents suspect anything." He finally smiles.

"Ok..." I agree.

"We can discuss things further when we return home. I want you to enjoy your time at home. Let's not think about anything else right now." He tells me, spinning me around towards the door. "I'm quite looking forward to your mother's cooking." He winks as we walk back inside. His wheels were still turning though, and I could tell that this might not be the end of whatever the hell had happened to him. For now, I'd stay confused I guess.

A/n: I didn't really edit this, I apologize for any errors!


	28. Chapter 28

"Finn, we didn't think we'd see you so soon! The way Annabelle was talkin' it was bout to be a week or so." My momma says to him. We were sitting at the kitchen table, eating shrimp gumbo. I was trying to not be as concerned as I was. We hadn't really had a moment to talk about what had all happened while I was gone, and the fact that I know he was hurt was hurting my heart right now. Thankfully though, he didn't look too horribly beat up with his clothes on so my parents shouldn't notice.

"I thought my work would take longer than it did, but fortunately it only took a couple days." He smiles at her. She smiles wide at him, and nods, happy with his answer.

"Well, we were gonna go out frog giggin' tonight with WIllie and Randy... I suppose you could come too if that's somethin' you'd be interested in." My daddy grumbles. Hey, I was just glad that he was voluntarily offering to include Finn in whatever plans we had.

"That sounds very interesting, I'd be delighted." He replies, "What, uhm, is frog gig-gigging?" He questions and I couldn't help but grin. My momma lets out a little chuckle at how unsure he sounded about the whole thing.

"We take out the boat around midnight with a cage and we troll around the shallows for bull frogs. You snatch'em up and throw them in the cage." I explain to him, "Then later we skin them and eat them. Frog legs are the best." I smile. His jaw twitches, which almost makes me burst out laughing, and I can tell he's absolutely disgusted, mostly by the skinning part but he smiles and nods anyway.

"Theresa could I help you with anything?" Finn asks, walking up to her with both my plate and his in his hand. He sets both down next to the sink, looking at the soapy water.

"No, no. You go on and sit with Annabelle." She protests, shooing him off with both hands.

"Lets take a walk." I murmur, pulling on his hand towards the front door. "We're goin' walkin' momma!" I call to her.

"Ok baby." I hear her answer and my daddy grumbles something inaudible from his spot in his recliner. I pull the door shut behind us and we walk in silence for a few minutes, putting some space between us and the house. He slides his fingers between my own and lets out a soft, content sigh. We stop at the old dock just off the dirt road and I pull him around so I can get a good look at him.

"Why is there a foot long bandage across you collar bone?" I ask wide eyed, pulling his shirt up and off his body. He cringes, pain obvious in his features and once I've got the shirt off to survey the damage I can see why. "Finn... Oh my god." I murmur. My fingers run lightly over the various spots that had been patched up, and the visible black and blue spots that littered his body. "What did they do to you?" I ask softly.

"I told you my love, it's the result of my father's magic." He sighs. He didn't want to talk about this. "I will heal, it will just take longer than usual since I lost very much blood." He tells me. It makes me bite down hard on my lip and look up at him from under my lashes. Tears had pricked my eyes. Seeing him in this kind of condition, I'd never had to see him beat up before and honestly it was more than I can handle. "My love, don't cry." He runs his thumb just under my eye, pushing away the wetness that sat there.

"Tell me what you saw." I ask him. He immediately shakes his head 'no'. His face twists in pain, like he's seen horrible things and/or been in some kind of tragic accident... Which I suppose he had. "Finn please tell me what you saw." I plead with him. If I didn't know, I couldn't understand… And I just wanted to understand what had happened to him, what was going on.

"It will only upset you." He argues. "Father and Alec are both dead, it's no longer a threat. You don't need to know details. It's not a stress that you or our baby needs." He smiles thoughtfully. "Ok?" I glower at him for a moment before finally nodding my agreement. "Good. Now, tell me about the last few days. Have you had an enjoyable time?" He questions. He was desperate for a subject change, I suppose for now while we were at my parents I'd let it go.

"We've gone fishing almost every day." I beam at him, with a small jump. I did miss fishing. "And every day I've outdone my daddy in size." I chuckle, remembering how annoyed (even if he wouldn't admit it) he'd been when we'd get back every day.

"Are you cheating?" He narrows his eyes playfully at me.

"You jerk!" I laugh, throwing my head back. "Why can't you just say, 'wow! good job babe!'" I say to him.

"Wow! Great job babe!" He teases me. His hand had slid up to the small of my back and we were walking along the dirt road. "Where is Gannicus?" He asks curiously, glancing around our surroundings confused.

"He's inside my shirt." I smirk. I pull my tank top out a little bit and you can see his head and his tail sticking out from the inside of my bra. He looks up happily at Finn, nuzzling himself in further if that was even at all possible. "He happy here." I smile.

"Sneaky." He chuckles, "I'm sure he loves it in there." He raises his eyebrows at me. "I would." He shrugs, looking down at me.

"He's gone with me everywhere. Just in case." I shrug, ignoring that last statement. "And I've got to hide him! If my daddy saw him I'd have to figure out how to explain a dragon in my bra. In the house!" I tell Finn, who was looking at me like I was full of shit. "Stop lookin' at me like that." I glower at him.

"I'm glad you've taken him everywhere, it's safer like that." He replies.

"Yeah, until something happens then I've got to explain why I have a fire breathing dragon tucked away in my clothes." I shrug back making him laugh. "Should you go back home, to let them know you're ok?" I question. "Your mother may be having a fit." I add, thinking of Ellena.

"Not right now." He shakes his head. "I wish to stay with you." He says, lacing his fingers into my own. We'd turned around and started heading back to the house. "How often do people actually come in contact with Alligators here?" He wonders and I chuckle.

"Every day." I reply honestly.

"Really?" He questions.

"There's way more of them in the swamp than us." I tell him. "We see at least two or three pass the end of the dock every day, and if you go out at night with a flashlight you can see the reflection of their eyes in the water. They think you can't see them."

"You see them pass the dock daily yet you still choose to get in the water? That sounds foolish." He narrows his eyes at me. "What if you're attacked?"

"Then it happens." I respond simply.

"Your water is much unsafer than ours at home." He comments. That was true, there was nothing in the lake by the castle that was threatening. It was beautiful, you could go all the way out to the middle and still see the bottom. Truly untouched.

"It is. Why the sudden interest in gators?" I ask. It was a weird subject for him to be talking about.

"I'm only curious about your home." He tells me, squeezing my hand.

"In 50 years it won't matter where I came from." I sigh. He notices the change in mood immediately.

"Focus on the here and now, my love." He smiles. He stopped us in front of the house and leans down, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. "We can conquer that when the time comes. Together."

"You're right." I agree. It'd gotten dark by now, and we walked into my parents in front of the TV watching the TV Land channel.

"Y'all are back." Momma smiles. "You're phone was ringin', It's Chase." She tells me, handing me my IPhone. I swipe it over, honestly I stay with Finn so much that I wasn't even sure why I had a cell phone anymore. Family I suppose, what few friends I had left.

"Thanks momma." I say, retreated down the hall way into my bedroom. Finn wasn't far behind me, shutting the door quietly behind us. "Oh, Chase." I sigh, staring down at his missed call.

"Who is Chase?" Finn questions, tilting his head slightly and looking down at my phone. I pull Gannicus out of my shirt and set him on the bed, putting a finger to my lips that he needs to be quiet. He sighs up at me, but walks up to the pillows and crawls inside one of the pillow cases, snuggling under the weight of the actual pillow.

"For someone who's been watching me since I was 16, you sure have no idea who anyone I used to run with is." I tease him, raising my eyebrows.

"Unless that's the boy you lost your virginity to in the back of a pick-up, then no, I didn't really pay attention to your friends." He says back, a little more serious than I had been about everything. My eyes got a little wider, apparently he'd paid more attention than I gave him credit for.

"That's the boy…" I mumble softly, not meeting his eyes. He lets out a heavy sigh, "I'm not apologizing for that." I chuckle, "It's a little creepy that you watched that though."

"I did not watch." He gasps, he sounded offended that I'd even just said that. "While I may have watched many things you've done throughout the years, you having sex was definitely not one of them." He clarifies.

"I'll call him back later." I shrug, tossing my phone onto the bed. "He's probably down at rainbow, and wants me to come out for wings… And we've already had dinner."

"You should see your friends before you leave. The time with them is short." He states, "Even if I may or may not approve of them." He adds, picking my phone up and setting it on the nightstand. He palms my face and leans down, pressing his lips to my own. "I missed you, my love." He murmurs when we break apart.

"I missed you." I reply. I glance at the clock that read 8:14pm, and press my forehead against his chin. "We could take a 3 hour nap before we go out frogging." I suggest hopefully, making him chuckle. He doesn't reply, but he kicks off his shoes and pulls the blankets back, holding them up so I could snuggle up against him. I watch him shut off the lights with a flick of his hand. "I don't want to hurt you." I mutter, setting my hands down gently on his chest.

"Your touch is welcomed, and needed." He almost whispered. He encases me in his arms, and I couldn't move even if I wanted to. All I can say is I hope that this is the last of our drama for now. My only focus now was having this baby without any more incident….

A/N: Yes… I still exist. I haven't been in the writing mood lately and honestly work hasn't allowed me time to write over the summer, but I got a little bit of inspiration lately so hopefully I'm back into things.


	29. Chapter 29

"Why are the lights flickering?" Finn questions curiously, walking into my bedroom. "Should I check the box in the basement?" He looks at me. It'd been a few months since I'd visited my parents, a few very uneventful months. Don't get me wrong I was super grateful for that, makes my stress level manageable, but at the same time it almost puts me on edge. Nothing stayed calm for long it seemed like with Finn.

"Ask your child." I mutter unimpressed. He raises an eyebrow at me. "I turned the electricity off an hour ago. There's zero in this house right now, unless I touch something." I sigh, putting a hand to my stomach. I motion for him to come over, and I place his hand on the right side of my tummy, exactly where the baby has been doing summer-saults all morning.

"That is, incredible." He breaths, grinning from ear to ear. He falls to his knees and presses the side of his face to the spot, continuing to be in awe. "And it's controlling the power, you said?" He looks up at me and I nod. "Curious." He chuckles.

"Annoying is a better term I think." I say unimpressed. "I went to blow dry my hair earlier and blew out the socket." I grumble, motioning to the pony tail that I'd ended up with instead. He only chuckles, "Yes, laugh at my annoyance."

"The baby is bored, he or she is only trying to play with you." He smiles and kisses my belly. "You must remember my love, you're not carrying a normal human child… This one," He gives my stomach a gentle poke, "Is special." He winks.

"I know." I smile, pulling my shirt back down over the skin.

"Not long now. Are you ready?" He asks me. Instead of standing up he'd taken position against my wall, knees to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.

"I don't think anything I do will make me ready." I chuckle, biting my lip. "Are you?"

"As ready as a 650 year old man with absolutely no baby experience can be." He replies making me laugh out loud. "My mother has faith in me, and you have faith in me… So that's all I really need I suppose." He grins.

"It'll be fine." I assure him.

"Mother has offered any help or support you may need." He tells me. My face must have faltered because his own twisted in confusion. "What is wrong, my love?"

"It's hard." I shrug. "That's one of the hardest parts in all of this. My mom wants to come out and help with the baby… You're mom wants to help. I want both of them to be there, but I can't be in two places at once." I sigh, collapsing my hands into my lap.

"Perhaps they may take shifts." He suggests calmly. "While it would make me more comfortable having you at the castle I understand the need for your mother-"

"And your mother, and Kelly… And you." I point to him.

"Ellena will have no issues coming here for a few hours a day when you need or want her." He smiles and gives a short nod, "And I will be here, with you, regardless." He adds. I watch him tilt is head towards the door and he lets out a soft, annoyed sigh. "Baron is here." He grumbles. I grin, I hadn't seen the big, dumb, mutt in a while now… Since everything with Finn's father and brother. "I will go to the castle for a while." He says and I nod.

"Annabelle?" Baron's deeper, husky voice calls up the steps. I pop up from the bed and pull the door open, peering down the steps at him. "Hey." He gives me an awkward half smile.

"Hey." I grin. I bounce down the steps, as gracefully as a 7 month pregnant woman can anyway. "How are you?"

"You're the size of a house." He comments, giving me the once over. "I'm better." He admits. I couldn't help myself, it'd been so long since I'd seen him, I wrapped both arms around his neck and hugged him tighter than necessary.

"I missed you." I tell him when I pull away.

"I missed you too." He smiles. He rubs the back of his neck, "And I'm sorry I was such a douche bag a while back…" He trails off. I literally hadn't seen Baron since all that junk had gone down. So we hadn't had a chance to talk about anything that happened or mend any burnt bridges.

"Don't be sorry, you have every right to be angry after everything that happened." I say to him, placing a soothing hand on his arm.

"Yeah… Well I didn't have to take off for months, I should've stuck around for your sake." He shrugs simply. "You look great." He smiles.

"Thanks." I chuckle, "I feel… Big." I sigh, coming off the final step and looking up at him.

"Ya look big." He teases me and I scoff, smacking his arm. "What? Where's the lie?" He laughs. He follows me into the kitchen, hoisting himself up onto a stool.

"You weren't supposed to agree with me." I playfully glower at him.

"Where's Finn?" He questions wearily.

"He transported to the castle." I shrug simply. "He thought it would be better for both of you if you guys didn't see each other. He wasn't sure how you'd react." I explain further.

"I mean, I don't like him…" He mumbles, "But I wouldn't have came at him or anything like that. I just wanted to see you, and if I gotta tolerate him for that to happen then whatever." He rattles off. He glances around the kitchen, and gives the light switch a few flicks. "You having power problems?" He asks.

"No…." I grumble. I walk the few feet down the hallway to the electric box and switch the power back on. "I've got a rolling ball of electricity in my stomach. Everything I touch. Ugh." I shake my head, making him chuckle. "So I tried turning it off, and of course that didn't work. Finn says the baby is bored." I finish.

"It's got powers even in the womb. That, is, scary." He admits. He gives me stomach a momentary stare with a face that I couldn't quite read.

"Stop…" I groan, leaning back against the counter.

"It'll make raising a kid interesting." He gives me a devious smirk. "Have fun with that one." He winks, pushing some hair back behind his ear.

"And guess what great, amazing uncle is going to babysit when I need a break?" I stare expectantly at him. He blinks at me, his face blank, before he points a finger to himself. "Yep. You, my friend." I confirm.

"You want me to be an uncle?" He asks softer. He seemed genuinely surprised at the comment.

"Yes."

"Finn won't allow it." He snorts.

"Finn doesn't get a choice in that." I shrug easily. "If Solomon ever comes back around, he'll have two big, strong, protective uncles." I smile. It'd been even longer seen I'd seen Solomon, which was odd... He was usually the one bugging me at a constant.

"He's been sleeping for like, weeks." Baron tells me. "Like in hibernation mode… I tossed a few rocks in there the other day and he didn't even stir." He mutters.

"He's ok though, right?" Concern obvious in my voice.

"Yeah, he's fine. When it gets cooler he sleeps. Sol isn't much for cold weather." He explains to me. I only nod, "Your stomach is moving." He stares at it, almost fixated. "Wicked." He comments, glancing back up at me.

"Yesterday it pushed so hard against my stomach that you could see a perfect little footprint." I say, circling the spot where it had happened.

"That's crazy." He chuckles. "So how much longer?"

"Couple months."

"Are you scared?" He questions. He tilts his head at me as I thought over how to answer that. Mostly people just asked me if I was excited, or nervous, but not scared. I ran my hand over my stomach, and tapped lightly with my forefinger.

"A little." I admit.

"Of which part?"

"All of it." I let out a soft chuckle and glance at the floor. "You know, honestly kids really weren't in my future behind I met Finn…. I didn't even want them, and then he comes around and I want all of it. I never thought I was cut out for motherhood." I start to explain. "I'm scared that this little demon is going to rip me open and destroy my nether regions." I laugh, "But mostly… Like, I don't know Baron… What if I'm a horrible mother?" I lock eyes with him.

"You're not going to be a horrible mother." He smiles thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure that everyone thinks they're going to make a bad parent. You'll learn by doing it, and the second one will be easier."

"Second one?" I half scoff half laugh. He gives me a skeptical look, "Ok, yeah there will probably be more than one. Assuming this one works out." I smirk.

"You'll be fine." He assures me.

"I'm glad you think so." I place a hand on my hip.

"Between everyone in your life, the kid is pretty well off." He comments. He pushes himself up from the stool and walks over to me, wrapping both arms around my torso. I smile against his shirt and return the hug. "I've got to get going, we're moving the pack to that new place I showed you. You'll have to come by sometime." He tells me.

"It'll be good to get a fresh start." I nod. "Thanks for coming by, I feel better that you're ok." I say honestly.

"I'll come by again soon." He assures me, "Maybe we'll go poke the sleeping Solomon next time." He says making me chuckle. "See you later."

"Bye." I watch him retreat out my backdoor and off into the woods behind the house. "Well... What do you think kiddo? You want a brownie?" I glance down at my stomach, "Lets feed ourselves." I murmur, pulling the container closer to me. Baron was right, I had enough people in my corner that think I"m going to make a good mother... And I don't even know why I"m thinking about it so hard anymore. How hard could it be right?

A/N: Suppose we'll find out soon enough!


	30. Chapter 30

It happened in the middle of the night… And it was a month early. The soaking wet sheets was what actually woke me up, and surprisingly I wasn't an instant panic. My hand traveled down the length of my body and between my legs. Drenched. Everything was wet. Problem. I rolled over to Finn who was still soundly sleeping next to me and gave his shoulder a gentle shake.

"Finn?" I murmur against his ear. He stretched out and cracked an eye open at me, the only indication that he was awake let alone even listening to me. "You need to go to the castle, and get the midwife. It's happening." That made him snap to attention. His eyes flew open and he whipped the covers off of us, staring at the giant wet spot that lined the bed.

"You're sure?" He asks wide eyed, "It's only been 8 months, perhaps it's an incontinence issue?" He suggests and I shake my head at him.

"The contractions have already started. I just really need you to go back to the castle, get the midwife, get your mother and come back." I say calmly. Lord knows that if I panic, so will he.

"Ok…" He mumbles, nodding his head slowly. "Midwife… Mom… Me." He repeats, sliding out of the bed.

"Faster, sweety." I encourage him, sitting up in bed. He's gone in an instant, and I allow myself to feel some emotions. "Kelly!" I shout at the door. "Kelly!" I should louder. I hear a solid thunk, before there were footsteps approaching the bedroom. She swings the door open, and just by the look on her face I could tell she already knew. "Gonna need you to call my momma." I tell her between gritted teeth. I clearly wasn't prepared for the labor pains that was child birth. God, I wish I had a way to get a hold of Baron.

"Ok." She agrees, darting off to her room for her cell phone. "Where's Finn?" She asks, walking back down the hallway.

"I sent him to go get the doctor." I reply. I let out a painful little cry as a contraction tensed my stomach. "Why do I have a feeling I'm going to be doing this all natural?" I groan, falling back against the bed. She hands me her phone.

"Oh god, baby? It's happening?" My momma answers, "I'm missing it!"

"Momma, I'm gonna need you to get on a plane… Like now." I tell her.

"I'm on my way, yesterday." She says, "I'm so excited!" She exclaims happily.

"Love you, talk to you later." I tell her, trying to hide the pain in my voice. Who knew that the pains would be nearly instant?

"Love you too baby." She replies before I hang up the phone, "You'll probably need to get her from the airport tonight or tomorrow." I say to Kelly. A sharp pain hits me, and I scream, I couldn't hold it in. The same time that happens the lights begin to strobe in the bedroom and hallway. "Oh my god, I can't with these light effects…" I groan when the pain subsides.

"I've never been with anyone while they're had a baby before… Was that normal?" She asks me, sitting on the edge of my bed. She wipes some of the hair that was sweaty and stuck to my face off to the side. "It sounded terrible." She adds.

"It felt pretty terrible." I mutter. Finn, along with Ellena and Sarah the midwife appears at the foot of the bed. "Please tell me that you have something for the pain." I look at Ellena hopefully.

"You're in pain?" Finn asks. He'd gone into totally panic mode. He was sweating through his clothes and his eyes haven't left the 'deer in the headlights' look yet. "What can I do? Is there anything I can do?" He looks from me to his mother and back to me. Sarah had started to pull various tools and things from her bag, placing each one in a spot at the edge of the bed.

"Go downstairs and get her some ice water." Ellena says to Finn. It was her turn to be calm for both of us, between his panic and my pain she was going to be that happy medium. He nods his head frantically, disappearing down the stairs. She walks over to my bedside, smiling warmly at Kelly before offering me something that looked identical to a dark chocolate bar. "Eat this, it will help with the contraction pains." She explains.

"Thank you." I murmur, looking extremely grateful.

"Finn?! Sweety bring up a cool wet cloth as well please!" She calls down to him.

"I'm going to need you to spread your legs for me." Sarah says from the edge of the bed. Ok, I admit that I was still pretty shy around people I didn't really know. I know that Sarah was a doctor and all, and I shouldn't feel awkward, but I did. "Annabelle, this isn't anything I haven't already seen before." She notices and I nod. "You've already dilated… A lot." She says softly. Finn walks into the room, with my water and washcloth. He glances between my legs and I can see the color drain from his face.

"Please don't faint… If you faint, I'll fucking die." I cry out, clamping down from another contraction. He shakes it off, staggering over to my side and setting the water down on the end table. He presses the cool cloth to my forehead and I let out a soft happy sigh.

"I'm fine, my love." He tries to assure me. He slips his fingers into my own. "She's not full term." He tells Sarah, concerned.

"The baby is to term, maybe not 9 months to term but I assure you… Baby is ready. Sometimes they just decide that 8 months is enough. There is nothing to be concerned about Master Balor." She tells him, not even looking up from her work. "There's a lot of dark brown hair here." She smiles up at me.

"Oh my god, you can see it already?" I ask, my mouth dropping open.

"Yes dear, the baby is already crowning." She tells me, "It won't be long. Your labor will be quick." She adds, standing up. "We'll start pushing shortly." She nods.

"I feel out of place." Kelly breathes, looking between everyone.

"Don't you dare fucking leave me." I growl at her, making her chuckle.

"Like I'm going to miss the birth of my niece." She shakes her head. That sharp pain, it was like a knife in the side of my stomach making me scream out again. The lights cut, and the room is pitch black. "Jesus Christ…" She whispers.

"Oh my god…" I scream, my fingers digging into Finn's skin.

"Is she ok?" He asks Sarah in the darkness. The pain passes and the lights come back on. Even Ellena has a shocked look on her face, and Finn, well he was still pale white.

"We can afford to start pushing." Sarah looks at me and I nod. "Hold her other hand." She instructs Kelly who doesn't ask any questions and proceeds to take my free hand. "When I tell you to, push as hard as you can. Understand?" She looks at me. I'm already exhausted, all I can do is nod at her. "Ok… Push." She tells me as I start to feel another contraction start up.

"Push, my love." Finn murmurs against my ear. I grip both their hands and push as if my life depends on it. It took everything I had to not scream at the searing pain in my core.

"Ok, take a breather." Sarah says, giving my leg a pat. "We've almost got a head, and once you can push that out the rest is easy work." She assures me.

"Oh god, I fucking hate you." I glower at Finn. For the first time since this started, he cracked a smile. He used the wash cloth to wipe the sweat off my forehead and flushed chest.

"I love you. So much." He presses a kiss to the back of my hand.

"Push." I brace down, I just needed this baby out of me. I pushed. Hard and for what seemed like an eternity. "We have a head! Keep pushing!" Sarah calls from the end of the bed. I'm crying. I have no idea when I started crying but tears were freely flowing down my face as I continued to push. Ellena has moved to the end of the bed, peering over Sarah's shoulder with delight. "You've done it, take a break." I hear her tell me. Finn's lilps were pressed against my arm, and he was staring at me. I glanced down, between my legs when I heard that first little cry. "Towels Ellena." She says to her. The small cry was followed closely by wails, which was basically like music to my ears. "Mastor Balor?" She looks expectantly at him. He froze, staring back at her. I can see her using the towels to clean off the baby I hadn't seen yet before she wraps it in a blanket, offering the bundle to him.

"Take it." I whisper to him, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Her. Take her." Ellena corrects me with a radiant smile. "And she's beautiful." She adds. Finn takes the little bundle from Sarah, sitting back down on the edge of the bed. He's in complete awe. I let him have his first few moments with her silently, just watching him stare at her. His fingers ran gently were here forehead was and down the side of her cheek, several times.

"She's beautiful." Finn murmurs, lowering her down to my chest. I gently push aside the blanket and big, ice blue eyes looks up at me. I may be biased, but she was the most gorgeous baby I'd ever seen. "Just like her mother." He kisses my cheek.

"Does she have a name?" Ellena asks curiously.

"Katrina." Finn answers her, "It's a name in Annabelle's family."

"Katrina Ellena." I smile. Sarah is messing around down there, feeling along my stomach and pushing more unpleasant liquids out of me. It makes me blanch.

"You did wonderfully." He tells me thoughtfully. "I wish I were near as calm as you." He adds making me chuckle softly.

***…***…***

"I'd really appreciate it if you would go get Baron." I say to Finn the next day. It look like it took him everything humanly possible to not glower at me. "Don't backtalk me." I sigh, "He deserves to see her too." I say to him.

"What time is your mother here?" He asks me. A desperate attempt to change the subject. I'd just finished feeding Katrina, and she was cradled in the crook of his arm as he laid across the couch that he'd moved to the bedroom.

"She's in at 8:43 tonight, Kelly is picking her up and my daddy is coming too. Stop changing the subject." I say seriously.

"I will fetch him." He sighs heavily.

"I"ll take her." Kelly chirps, popping her head into the bedroom. He hands her off and is gone in a second. "You guys reproduce pretty well." She winks at me and I laugh, shaking my head. Sarah said that I should stay in bed for at least a full 24 hours, I was itching to get out of this bed and do something productive.

"She's pretty cute." I shrug confidently, making her laugh with me. A few minutes later Baron's footsteps were clunking their way up the steps, and his large frame appeared in my door. "Hey." I smile at him.

"Kinda a runt, ain't she?" He teases me, looking at Katrina still in Kelly's arms. She offers her to him, and he takes a step back, putting his hands up. "I don't know how to hold those." He mutters, shaking his head.

"Just cradle her body in your arm, against your chest." I tell him simply. "Hold your fucking niece, Baron." I playfully growl at him. He takes a keep breath, and Kelly slips her into his large arm.

"She doesn't weight anything." He says softly. Finn walks in the room, and Baron is so focused on Katrina that he doesn't even look up at him. "She's really pretty." He smiles at me, and glances at Finn. "You did good."

"You said I would." I wink at him, making him smirk.

"She was wonderful." Finn says to Baron. The first non-aggressive words I think he's ever said to this man, and don't think Baron didn't notice that too. He nods at Finn, lowering himself down on the couch. "Damn… Look at those eyes, they almost glow." He murmurs mostly to himself. She had a pair of ocean blue eyes like I'd never seen before. I thought Finn had bright blue eyes, but hers were ever more vibrant that his. "And that hair." He chuckles, letting his fingers run through it. She had thick dark brown hair. I was definitely thankful that my baby wasn't bald.

"It'd be nice if you woke up Sol at some point." I smile at him.

"I will." He agrees easily. "You're ok though, you've got all the help you need?" He asks me.

"I do. Probably more than I need, but I'm not about to complain." I shrug. He stands up, offering Katrina back to me.

"I don't want to intrude on you guys for long, but I'll come back. Tomorrow or soon." He assures me, "If that's alright." He looks at Finn.

"She wants you here. Who am I to argue?" He sighs. Baron nods and we watch him retreat out of the room and down the steps. Finn lets out a long breath, before focusing his attention on Kat once again.

"That was decent of you." I murmur to him. "I'm proud of how you handled that. Like a big boy." I smirk, making him glare playfully at me. "My momma will be here soon, I think I'm going to get some rest before she's here." I say to him.

"Of course my love, get some sleep." He agrees. He slips his arms under Katrina and retreats to the couch with her. It honestly didn't take me too long to fall asleep after that.

A/N I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it!


End file.
